Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

We had a shorter time window this Wednesday, so we cheated.  We started with a base of Betty Crocker brownie mix and spiced it up with a cream cheese swirl topping.

INGREDIENTS

Filling

4

oz cream cheese, softened (from 8 oz package)

1

egg

3

tablespoons sugar

1/4

teaspoon vanilla

Brownies

1

box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix

Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box

1/3

cup semisweet chocolate chips

• Heat oven to 350ºF (325ºF for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 9-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray. In small bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Set aside.
• Make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread 3/4 of brownie batter in pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through mixture with knife several times for marbled design. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
• Bake 40 to 44 minutes or until toothpick inserted in brownie 1 inch from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. For 16 brownies, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
  
  Everything turned out perfectly, and considering it was mostly from a box, we couldn't have imagined a better outcome!  This was easy, fast, and delicious!  The brownies were perfectly moist and the cream cheese was an amazing addition, making it even richer.
  

  

  Baked to golden perfection

  
  

  

  Empty plates at empty tables

  
  Next week's menu: Pumpkin scones with spiced glaze.

Not-Auntie-Anne's Jumbo Pretzels

This Wednesday was pretzel day!  We had so much fun rolling the dough and twisting it into pretzel-like shapes.  And they all tasted amazing, even if not all of them looked exactly like pretzels!  We made both original and cinnamon-sugar pretzels, and although we thought the dipping sauces were overkill, I am sure they would make a great addition to your taste buds.  The recipe is fairly straight forward, and we didn't encounter any issues, so happy baking!  These pretzels are perfect for any occasion: snack, dessert, or appetizer (if you make mini ones)!


Auntie Anne's Copycat Pretzels
(Originally from Yammiesnoshery.com)

2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
6 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
5 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda
3 cups warm water
Coarse salt
 8 tablespoons butter, melted in a shallow dish 

Warm up the milk in the microwave or on the stove for just about one and a half minutes. It should be about 110º. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast. You should be able to comfortably keep your finger in it. Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Add the butter and sugar. Add the flour about 1 cup at a time and the add the fine salt. Kneed for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer, or by hand. Put it in a greased bowl and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 450º. Punch down dough and divide into 12 lumps (I like to divide it in half, then divide each half into three, and then divide each remaining one in half again). Roll them all out as thin as you can. Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then dip in the baking soda water. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned. Dip each in the melted butter while hot. Serve with cheese sauce.

If you want cinnamon sugar ones, just mix together a little cinnamon and sugar and dip the pretzels in in right after you dip them in the butter. If you want something to dip them in, I just used the extra dipping butter and mixed it with a handful of powdered sugar and a splash of milk to make a little icing. 


For Garlic Cheese Sauce:
(A Yammie original)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
a pinch cayenne pepper
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (Not pre-shredded. Do it yourself.)
In a saucepan, combine the butter, flour, and garlic over medium heat. Whisk until lightly browned. Whisk in the milk, paprika, and cayenne pepper and continue whisking until thickened. Add the cheese and whisk until melted. Can be reheated in the microwave.

With all the things that can go wrong, it's amazing that the yeast survived  its milk bath.

Cutting pretzel dough with a pizza-cutter.  Foreshadowing for pretzel pizza buns???

Rolling the dough!  Apparently thinner > better for pretzels.

Yes, they tasted exactly like they look: heaven.  And sugar, lots of sugar.

First bite, best bite!  High on pretzels.

Tune in next Wednesday for our next baking adventure!  Any suggestions?  Feel free to post comments!

Divine Carrot Cake

So far so good in our second week of baking.  The agenda today was made-from-scratch carrot cake and although intimidated at first, we set out to tackle the challenge with our heads held high.  And high it was indeed; I had no idea that our recipe would spawn a three-layer cake complete with level-by-level cream cheese frosting!  We would highly recommend this recipe to anyone who likes carrots, cheese, or anything remotely sweet or fattening.

The only hiccup that we encountered was removing the individual layers from their pans.  Although we easily made up for the crumbles with extra icing, the layers were not quite perfectly in tact after moving them several times.  The problem was partly that they were undercooked in the middle (although the toothpick came out clean), so we would recommend leaving them to bake for 33-35 minutes instead of the recommended 25-30.  Another issue with moving the layers was that we had to remove them from their pans after applying the buttermilk glaze, which (when flipped) caused the cake to stick to whatever was underneath them (in this case, a plate) in the transition from the pan to the cooling rack.  We are not sure how to avoid this problem.

The timing of the recipe is perfect, since you have just enough time to make the glaze and frosting while the layers bake!  We recommend spreading the glaze on the layers fairly soon after it is taken off the heat, since it will harden and be much more difficult to spread.  Also, make sure to read the directions carefully and add the vanilla extract to the glaze AFTER boiling it, or else all of the flavor will burn off!

Other than that, stack up those layers and slather icing over the entire mess, and you are good to go!

Recipe:

(originally from Southern Living)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrot (about two large carrots)
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (3 1/2-ounce) can flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• Buttermilk Glaze
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Preparation

1. Line 3 (9-inch) round cakepans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.
2. Stir together first 4 ingredients.
3. Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into prepared cakepans.
4. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.
5. 
   
6. BUTTERMILK GLAZE:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often, 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.

Photos:

When life gives you carrots, make Divine Carrot Cake! (Also, who knew that one carrot makes about one cup shredded?)

Becky recently discovered the power of electric tools.

Pre-baking goop (also known as batter)

Who needs ovens when the batter tastes this good?

Action shot. Enough said.

Ready to bake!

Newly glazed layers: the shine is blinding!

Layering in progress!  It took two large spatulas and quick hands.

Cheesing with the (almost) finished cake!

First corner, best corner.

The finished product!  Blue for AZD, walnuts to serve as an allergy warning.   Best decorating combination.

Decoration + scrumptious inside = divine

If you couldn't see it before, bask in the moistness and perfect melding of flavors!

The epitome of classXI.  Almond milk and blue cake.

Please leave comments if you have any suggestions or requests for next week!

S'more Bars

Today was our first baking experience of the term!  We experimented with s'more bars and they didn't disappoint!  This was a very straightforward recipe and it turned out just like we expected and hoped!  The toughest part is spreading the marshmallow fluff, just because it's so sticky.  When they came out of the oven, we couldn't wait to dig into the gooey, chocolatey, crunchy bars!

Recipe:

(originally from bakingbites.com)

S’More Cookie Bars
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs*
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick.
Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.
Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.

*Note: 3/4 cup crumbs is approx 7 full-sized graham cracker sheets, whizzed in the food processor until fine.

Photos:

Our first glimpse of heaven as it popped out of the oven!

So excited to get the first bite (don't worry, it wasn't hot anymore)!

One piece for each baker!  Like our excitement, the marshmallow fluff just couldn't be contained.

This is what Earth looks like underneath the crust.  No wonder Hershey's makes bank.

Please sir, I want s'more!

Further ideas:

Not sure if this would work, but my first thought when it came out of the oven was that it looked very geological. It would be interesting to substitute crushed Oreos for the graham cracker crumbs and tint the marshmallow fluff yellow/red and go for a volcano look!  Perfect for a school project, volcano themed party, or anything else that might arise!

Welcome to our first blog!!

Hi!  Melanie and Becky here!  We hope you enjoy our very first baking blog!  Each week (generally Wednesdays) we will be attempting to make a new recipe and sharing our experiences and tips (and of course, pictures) from our efforts.  Even if you don't try to make any of the recipes that you find here, we hope that you enjoy salivating over all of the delicious things we bake.  And if you do decide to try any, hopefully our experience will help you to not repeat our mistakes!  Enjoy!

Melanie

Becky (second from left)