Red Velvet Swirl Brownies

Last week I was watching Food Network with Jarret and Sunny Anderson was making Red Velvet brownies and they looked so amazing I went online and got the recipe right away. Jarret LOVES red velvet cake in fact it's one of the only cakes he actually likes so I made these for him. 

These were delicious!! I suggest if you love red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting to give these a shot. You won't be disappointed. Here's the recipe -

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/red-velvet-swirl-brownies-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for pan

Red Velvet Brownie Layer:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Special equipment: 8 by 8-inch baking pan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking pan, and set aside.

Brownie layer: In a saucepan on medium heat melt the butter. Remove the butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Stir in the walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/4 cup of the batter for the top.

Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting




ENJOY!! 


With Love,
Cheri

Nutella & Oreo Cookie Filled Cupcakes

So my boyfriend loves Nutella and I thought that I'd make him something special this week :) plus we're on diets and actually having a competition as to who can lose the weight faster so I had to sabotage him a little with these cupcakes ;) 

I made both a chocolate & vanilla cake because I wasn't sure which would taste better with the Nutella. We also had oreos so I asked my boyfriend to separate them and I used the cookie part in the cupcake. I put a little of the cake batter in the cupcake liner then topped the cookie with nutella and put that in the cupcake and covered it with some more batter filling it 2/3 full. Then baked at 350 deg. for 15 minutes. My oven tends to cook fairly quick so keep that in mind. I frosted the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream because it's my favorite but you could also top it with a nutella frosting -

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup very soft nutella   

 Cream together butter & nutella. Add vanilla. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time. Mix thoroughly. Add milk slowly. You may not need all of it. Just add milk until you get the right consistency.

I made these on Halloween so I dyed my frosting purple & orange! and the liners say trick or treat on the bottom. 


These turned out really good & tasted delicious as well. I also used the leftover oreos and put them inside a few cupcakes but those were eaten before I could get a pic! 


You have to try these if you're a nutella fan. 


With Love,
Cheri

not cupcakes, but still pretty delish - Pumpkin Brownies.

I got a random e-mail from Betty Crocker this week which I usually just delete as spam but I saw pumpkin in it and had to at least look at it. They had a recipe for pumpkin brownies and I love pumpkin & brownies so I decided right there and then I had to try it!

Now they are supposed to be kind of layered but ended up all blending together which worked just fine. 

Here's the recipe:
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I didn't follow it to the T. I didn't use the brownie mix suggested but they still came out delicious!! The pumpkin was not overpowering at all and the brownie & pumpkin together really worked. If you love pumpkin and brownies try this, you won't regret it! They are absolutely perfect for holiday get togethers or just because ;)

With Love,
Cheri