Rocky Road Brownies

First of all I am SO sorry that I have not posted in about 3 weeks, I have just gotten back into the rhythm of school and readjusting to college life- my apologies.  But this is worth the wait! They are Rocky Road brownies.  A light cakey brownie with marshmallows, chopped pecans or walnuts, and chocolate chips. 

I spontaneously made these two nights before I left home, I knew I needed one last hoorah before my baking days would soon be limited.  They take basically no time at all if you have the ingredients handy.

Another note: The brownies will probably take longer or shorter than indicated depending on your oven and they will still seem a little of gooey when you take them out.  Keep in mind that this is due to the marshmallows that you have added.  Once it is removed from the oven let it cool and it should solidify nicely. 

I am happy to see that I am continuing to gain more and more views and interest via Pinterest, Google, and Facebook so thank you so much to all of my supporters who have helped me along the way and continue to check in with "Ever So Sweet" on a regular basis.  You guys are so awesome!

I never actually was much of a fan of Rocky Road ice cream... shoot me now, I know.  I was more of a cookie dough or mint chocolate chip kind of gal but nevertheless I will not argue with these brownies.  Especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side they are quite marvelous.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes one 9x9 square of brownies. 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
35-50 mini marshmallows
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions: 

Start off my preheating the oven to 350 and lining your 9x9 square pan with aluminum foil.
Melt 4 oz. of chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring in between.
Whisk the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl small bowl.
In an electric mixer combine eggs, sugar, and salt.  Beat on high speed until it turns thick, pale yellow, and has increased a decent amount in volume (about 2-3 minutes). 
Pour in the butter/chocolate mixture and fold in with a spatula. 
Sift the flour mixture in, while folding again with the spatula and being careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the foil lined pan.

Distribute the chopped walnuts (or pecans), chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows over the surface.  

Poke the mini marshmallows into the batter with a fork or finger so that just the top is visible. 
Bake 25-35 minutes (make sure to keep an eye on this before you reach the time limit, a toothpick inserted should come out cooked but not necessarily clean).
Once it is done cooking, allow to cool completely before cutting and consuming!

This recipe was developed from a cookies, bars, and brownies cookbook that my Aunt gave me for the holidays- very sweet of her!

Enjoy your weekend and Happy almost Valentines Day! 
P.S. Happy Baking!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes

College Cooking Episode #2!  Reeses are by far my favorite candy in the world.  Chocolate and peanut butter, independently, are way up there on my favorite foods list and when combined... oh don't even get me started.

This was my first time making cheesecake so I am definitely a rookie and made a few minor mistakes but we have to make mistakes to learn, right? 

I would eat cheesecake every day if I could but my conscience won't let me.  I guess its for the best. 

This particular cheesecake has an Oreo crust, a peanut butter cheesecake, a chocolate ganache topping, and chopped up Reese's to put on top.  The recipe makes about 12 mini's or one whole cheesecake.  I had to use my cupcake pan because its all I had, but I would recommend using something made specifically for cheesecakes if you have it.  

Last week, when I somehow ended up doing the most baking I've done since I have been here, I had so much going on.  I had my chemistry and biology midterms as well as my boyfriend running the Portland marathon on Sunday.  He had a fabulous time of about 3 hours and 23 minutes, which is around a 7:45/mile pace.  I am so proud of him and just wanted to make sure I acknowledged it here. 

This recipe is inspired by the blog, Gimme Some Oven.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 12 mini cheesecakes. 

For the oreo crust:

1 cup finely chopped Oreo's

2 tbsp. melted butter

For the peanut butter cheesecakes:

16 oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

For the chocolate ganache:

1 cup chocolate chips

3 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp. powdered sugar

*Also: chopped up Reese's candy for garnish.

Directions:

For the oreo crust:

Finely chop up 1 cup of Oreo's. 

Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl and add in the chopped oreos. Mix well.  

Evenly distribute the crust among 12 pre-greased cupcake slots. 

Push down to the bottom and flatten with a spoon so it it just the base. 

Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. 

For the peanut butter cheesecake: 

Tips: 

1) Bake in a water bath.

2) Do not open the oven while they are baking.

3) The center should still be a little jiggly when they are done cooking. 

4) Do not over mix/beat the batter.

With an electric mixer combine peanut butter and softened cream cheese until thoroughly mixed. 

Add sugar and continue mixing until combined.  Then, add in eggs one at a time, followed by the cream and vanilla, mixing until it is just combined. 

Transfer the batter to the baking pan with a spoon or ice cream scoop, filling each container as much as possible.  Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes or until they are starting to turn brown and the majority of the surface has firmed up.  

When they are done baking, open the oven a crack and let cool for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let them cool completely before attempting to separate them from the pan.  This is necessary as cheesecakes are very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature. 

Refrigerate for several hours before topping with ganache and Reeses. 

For the chocolate ganache: 

Melt the chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl in 15 second intervals until it has reached the consistency you want.  

Add 1 or more tbsp. of powdered sugar to thicken.  Feel free to increase the recipe size by about 50% as I found that it would have been better if it was spilling off the sides.  

After the cheesecakes are done chilling, transfer the ganache to the top of the cheesecakes.  I did this by spooning it on and spreading with a knife but choose whatever method you prefer. 

Last but surely not least: top with Reeses!

I already miss these things- they were so yummy and I will definitely be making them again at some point with my lessons learned on what to do the next time around.  

My hall mates were not disappointed.  Cute look Jordan... 

As always feel free to contact me with any questions and I hope you give these a shot.  You honestly cannot go wrong with this combination of ingredients. 

Happy October and Happy baking!

Black Tie Mini Cupcakes

That's right, these are "black tie" cupcakes.  There's a bakery in my hometown that has a cupcake similar to these, called black tie cupcakes, so I figured I would borrow the title.  These are very simple... chocolate mini cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and some chocolate shavings for garnish.

Feast your eyes.

My friend Alon was having a party at his house last night and my first thought was, "an excuse to bake something!"  So of course I surfed the internet for a few hours looking for inspiration and did not find anything but eventually came up with my own plan!

Funny story... this recipe made about 55 mini cupcakes and I probably brought about 30 over to my friend's house.  After a little over half of them were devoured we put them down on a very low table and completely forgot about the fact that there were 2 huge, hungry, chocolate labs roaming the house.  By the time we realized, the box that the cupcakes had previously been in was 100% empty.  No mess.  No evidence.  Sneaky pups. 

There's something about mini cupcakes that just makes me smile.  You can eat them in 1-2 bites with less guilt, therefore more happiness.  Not to mention they are adorable!

Ingredients: 

This recipe makes about 50-60 mini cupcakes.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes (inspired by Hello, Cupcake! ):

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1.5 sticks unsalted butter

3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup or 2 oz. of semisweet melted chocolate chips

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (inspired by Country Living):

5 oz. melted white chocolate (I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips)

5 oz. cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese)

5 tbsp. softened unsalted butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

Directions:

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line mini muffin/cupcake pans with liners. 

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

In an electric mixer beat brown sugar and butter until creamy (several minutes). 

Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the melted chocolate.  Tip: to melt to chocolate you can either place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals or melt over simmering water.

Slowly beat in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk (starting and ending with the dry ingredients).  Stir in the vanilla.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about two-third's full.  Tip: to make your life easier you can fill a Ziploc bag with the batter, cut a hole in the corner, and pipe it into the liners (this makes it a little bit faster/mess free). 

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. 

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals or in a bowl over simmering water. 

In an electric mixer beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.

Beat in white chocolate, salt, and vanilla and mix until well incorporated. 

Slowly add sifted powdered sugar until you reach the right consistency (smooth and creamy). 

Tip: I refrigerated mine for about 10 minutes before piping onto the cupcakes. 

Pipe onto the cupcakes once they have completely cooled using whichever technique you like.  I used a wide open star tip.  Start at the center of the cupcake, squeeze until you have your desired amount, and pull up quickly to make a nice pointy tip.

Chop some chocolate shavings off of a chocolate candy bar using a knife.  I used a basic Trader Joes dark chocolate bar.  Sprinkle over the top and your done!  Not too hard huh?

These are great for parties, handing out to friends, or just for yourself (we all need a little pick-me-up every once in awhile, don't we?).  I know that a recipe for 55 cupcakes sounds like a lot but they are so small and they do go fast! Hope you try it out and had a good weekend! 

Happy baking!