Today… it’s Red Velvet, Cream Cheese & Chocolate Brownies.  Now, you may have noticed that I don’t make many red velvet things… I’m not really a huge fan.  I don’t always have red food dye on hand and I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese.  Call it pregnancy hormones and cravings… but for the first time in my life, I’ve been wanting to use cream cheese in every dessert I make.

The recipe is pretty simple… there are a few steps, but it really didn’t take much time at all to put together!

I made these especially for the #ChocolateLove BlogHop that I’m apart of!  So make sure you visit the BlogHop Co-Hosts listed at the bottom of this post and add your favorite CHOCOLATE recipe to the list!

ENJOY!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Makes 12-16 brownies

Brownie Batter:
9 tbsp unsalted butter
7oz 70% dark chocolate

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp red food coloring gel/dye

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake Batter:
12oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line 9×13 glass pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray (or grease/flour pan – I prefer parchment paper, makes the brownies easier to pull out at the end).
2. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together.  Stir often.  Set aside to cool slightly when melted.
3. While that’s melting, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.
4. In an even smaller bowl, with a fork, stir together the cocoa powder and food coloring until it becomes a paste and set aside.
5. While the chocolate/butter is cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
6. SLOWLY pour in the slightly cooled chocolate.  Start with a little bit at a time, you don’t want to add it all too much, too hot and cook the eggs.
7. Add the cocoa powder/food coloring.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat until your batter turns a dark red color.  If you want, you can add more red coloring at this time.  Make sure the food color is very well incorporated before you move on.
8. Slowly add the flour and mix until smooth.  Don’t beat too much… just enough until all the clumps are out and the batter is smooth.
9. Remove 1/2 cup of batter and set aside.
10. In a clean bowl for the stand mixer, mix together the cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla on high speed until whipped and smooth.
11. 
    Spread brownie batter in the bottom of the pan, making sure to get it into the edges and corners.
12. 
    Dollop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture.  Using an offset spatula, gently spread to cover the brownie mixture.
13. 
    Drizzle remaining brownie mixture on top of the cream cheese.  Using your offset spatula, swirl the three layers together.  NOTE:  Don’t swirl too much!  You want a lot of the white cream cheese to show through!
14. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate pan, and cover with foil.  Bake another 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs, not wet batter.
15. Allow to cool completely in pan before removing to cut into squares.

Recipe adapted from An American Cupcake in London

ChocolateLove BlogHop CoHosted by:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl * ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan * Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl * Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29 * Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins * Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha * BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker * Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth * CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog * Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess * Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue * Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22 * Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf * Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies * Elephant Eats ~ Amy * Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes * Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19 * Java Cupcake ~ Betsy ~ @JavaCupcake * Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica * Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking * Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk * No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley * Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose * Preheat the Oven ~ Jason ~ @officialchefjae * Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar * Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla * Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem * Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition * Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood * Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable * Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil  * That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick * The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal * The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict * The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd * The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian * Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack * Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma * You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

So brownies it is.  BUT!  Not your traditional brownie… it’s a cookies n’ creme brownie!  This delicious thing has oreos baked inside of the brownie as well as a creamy oreo buttercream slathered on top.

NOM!

It’s a pretty easy recipe too, only took me about 10 minutes to whip up and get in oven… then another few minutes to beat up the frosting, spread and cut!

If the soldiers at work don’t love these at the potluck… well shoot.  hahaha!

Cookies ‘n Creme Brownies
Makes 16 brownies (depending on how you cut it)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 oz (3 squares) unsweetened bakers chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

8 Oreo cookies, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Great 9×15 in dark pan with shortening or butter.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.
3. While that is creaming, melt the chocolate and set aside to cool for 2 minutes.
4. Add the slightly cooled chocolate to the butter mixture, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix until combined.
5. Mix in the vanilla.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour and salt.
7. Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix only until just combined.
8. Remove bowl from mixer, scrape off paddle attachment and sides of the bowl.  Fold in the Oreo cookies and make sure the batter is smooth and combined.  This should take about 7-8 strokes.
9. Spread batter evenly into the pan using an offset spatula.
10. Bake for 25-35 minutes or just until barely done.  Do not over bake!
11. Cool completely on a wire rack.  (If you’re in a hurry like I was, allow brownies to cool for 10 minutes in front of an open window, then remove them from the pan to cool more on the wire rack by the window!)
12. Frost with Oreo buttercream then cut into squares!
13. Eat…. nom nom nom!  Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from: How Sweet It Is

Oreo Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
8-10 Oreo cookies, in chunky pieces

1. Cream together the butter, sugar and salt – about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add half the cream and beat until smooth.
3. Mix in the Oreos and beat until they are broken up.  You want a few chunks in the frosting, so don’t mix too long.
4. Beat in the the remaining cream until you get your desired consistency.
5. NOTE:  This frosting is VERY SWEET.  You can cut back on the sugar, oreos or add a pinch more salt to change the flavor.  Play around with it until you get it the right sweetness.

I asked my BFF baker friend, Carrie Fields of Fields of Cake, what recipe I should use to make such brownie and she led me to the most amazing brownie I have ever tasted. Seriously, this brownie is AH-MAH-ZING!

It’s thick, moist, chewy and so chocolately that you neeeeeeed the whipped cream and peanut butter sauce to balance out the awesomeness of the chocolate.

And let me tell you about this peanut butter sauce. OH MY GAWG. I just want to eat spoonfuls of it. And really, can’t wait to buy some ice cream to top it with. You can use this sauce on ANYTHING. SO GOOD.

So, thanks to Steffen for wanting brownies and thanks to Carrie for the recipes! I changed things up just slightly, but for the most post… the recipes are all Carries!

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
14 ounces quality dark chocolate (85%), chopped coarsely
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9×13 pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder and set aside.
3. Using a large double boiler, melt together the chopped dark chocolate, cubed butter and instant espresso powder.  Stirring occasional until melted and completely combined.  Turn the heat off, but leave on the burner and keep the bowl on the double boiler.
4. Add the sugars and whisk until combined.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes or until it comes to room temperature.
5. Add three eggs, whisk just until combined.  Add the remaining two eggs and whisk only until combined.
6. Gently stir in the vanilla.  Do not overmix the batter or the brownies will turn out cakey.
7. Fold the flour mixture to the wet mixture just until all the flour has become wet and just combined.  Again, DO NOT OVERMIX.
8. Pour the mixture into your buttered baking dish.  Using a tapered spatula, gently spread the batter into the corners of the pan, smoothing out the top.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.  Rotate pan half way through baking. Do not over bake.
10. Allow to cool in pan completely before cutting and serving.
11. Serve with unsweetened fresh whipped cream and peanut butter sauce drizzled over the top.

Peanut Butter Sauce
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 cup sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup water
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp salt

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, honey, water and salt with a whisk until all the sugar is dissolved.
2. Allow to come to a boil and cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns a dark amber color.  This process can happen quickly, so watch the sugar closely so you don’t burn it.  It will start to smell like caramel when it’s done.
3. Once it turns dark amber in color, remove immediately from the heat and whisk in the butter.
4. Add the cream and whisk to combine.
5. Stir in the peanut butter and whisk until combined.
6. Taste the sauce, if it’s too sweet, add 1 tsp more of salt to cut the sweetness.
7. Allow to come to room temperature to thicken before drizzling over brownies with fresh whipped cream.

1 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the metal bowl and whisk of your electric mixer in the freezer for 20 minutes.
2. After they bowl and whisk are very chilled and cold, attach them to the stand mixer.
3. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk on high for 3-4 minutes.
4. Pour in the vanilla extract.
5. Continue to whisk on high until it becomes thick.  Do not over mix or it will deflate.

The recipe inspiration came from what I had on hand in my kitchen.  No cocoa powder, but I had unsweetened baking chocolate,  no chocolate chips, but I had peanut butter chips.  Brownies! YES!

FYI… make sure if you want ooey gooey brownies that you do not over cook these!  I made sure they cooked just the right amount of time and they came out perfectly fudgey and gooey!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 cup flour, sifted
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1. Preheat your oven to 325 F degrees.  Grease a 9×15 cake pan.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla.
3. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.   Make sure to scrape the sides/bottom of the bowl!
4. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the melted chocolate.  Scrape the sides and mix on medium/high speed about 30 seconds.
5. By hand, mix in the flour until just incorporated.
6. Fold in the peanut butter chips
7. Spread batter evenly into the pan.
8. Dollop the peanut butter on top of the batter.  Using a knife, gently swirl the peanut butter into the batter.  Not too much though, you don’t want the entire top to be covered in peanut butter, just a nice swirl.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving!

They are sort of like a mini turtle pie brownie… They’re very rich and decadent, which is why I think I like them better as a mini sized cupcake.  The 2 bites of deliciousness is just enough to satisfy my cupcake cravings

Mini Brownie Cupcakes: (Recipe Adapted from: For the Love of Food)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cups Sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/4  cups Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tbs Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Line 24 mini cupcake tins with paper liners.
3. In a medium sized bowl melt butter for 30-45 seconds in the microwave.  Add the sugar and melt the mixture for another 1-2 minutes, just until it’s hot.
4. In a standing bowl mixer crack the eggs, add cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
5. Add the butter & sugar mixture to the standing bowl mixer.
6. Add flour to the mixture and then combine.  Mixture will be thick, but combine until smooth.  Add the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
7. Spoon batter into mini cupcake tins, about 1 1/2 tsp for each mini cupcake.
8. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
9. Let cupcakes cool for a few minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting: (Source: Martha Stewart)

• 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• caramel bites
• almond slivers
• mini chocolate chips

1. Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.
2. Pipe frosting with a star pastry tip.
3. Melt caramel bites in the microwave until smooth, if the caramel gets stiff, you can add milk to make it workable.
4. Drizzle caramel onto the cupcakes, add a few almond slivers and mini chocolate chips to each cupcake.

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

xoxo-Jenn

I thought – what if I made brownies? Then I thought, what if I made them in cupcake form? Then I thought, what if I put a peanut butter cup in the middle? This is how my brain works. Be thankful I stopped there.

ingredients:
8 ounces chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
12 peanut butter cups (regular size NOT mini)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

I got these FULL size peanut butter cups at Target for ONE DOLLAH. HOLLA! That’s cheap, and rather than just eat them all myself (which I am fully capable of doing) I thought they’d go great in brownies.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and the butter, stirring constantly. Once melted and combined, carefully take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Whisk in the sugar until smooth. Then quickly add the vanilla and eggs, whisking constantly, you don’t want them to cook.

Carefully add in the flour and cocoa, just whisking until combined. The nice thing about brownies is that you don’t need an electric mixer, however you do need arm muscle. I. Am. Weak.

Now, spoon a small amount (just about 1 Tablespoon) of batter into each liner. Place one peanut butter cup on top (I don’t need to tell you to unwrap them do I? Good.) and then top with more batter – covering the peanut butter cup completely.

Bake for approx 25-30 mins depending on your oven. You can do a toothpick test, but it’s kinda tough since the peanut butter is right in the middle – just make sure the brownie part is cooked through.

Let cool on a wire rack IF you can control yourself. Because they are darn good right out of the oven. Now give them away to all your peanut butter lovin’ friends!

I made these for a football party I hosted this past weekend and they were a HUGE hit!!

Seem too complicated and time consuming to make?  WRONG!  I made these using pre-made cookie dough and a box fudge mix!

What you’ll need:

1. Brownie mix – eggs, oil, water
2. Cookie dough
3. Milk chocolate chips
4. 13×9 pan
5. Cooking spray

Assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pick out your favorite boxed brownie mix and follow the box’s directions.
3. Lightly grease bottom and sides a 13×9 pan with cooking spray.
4. Pour and spread the brownie mix evenly into the bottom of the pan.
5. Drop 1-2 tablespoons of cookie dough (I used Nestle Toll House pre-made cookie dough) at a time on top of the brownie batter.  Cover the majority of the pan with the cookie dough.  Remember, it will spread out so some space is necessary between each drop.
6. Bake for 27-35 minutes.   Rotate pan half way through cooking.  If the cookie dough is browning too much, cover with foil the last 10 minutes.
7. Bars will be done with you can insert a toothpick or fork in the middle and no brownie batter is stuck to it when you pull it out.
8. Cool completely and cut into squares.
9. Before removing squares from the pan, drizzle 1 cup of melted chocolate over the bars.
10. To melt the chocolate, measure 1 cup of milk chocoalte chips and microwave for 40 seconds.  After the first 20 seconds, stir with a spatula.  Stir again after the last 20 seconds until all the chips are melted.  Microwave longer if necessary.
11. Let chocolate harden before taking the bars from the pan.
12. Enjoy!

These brownies are more like a blondie since they aren’t chocolate all the way through… although they are very chocolaty with the ganache on top.   They are very very very rich so you’ll definitely need a glass of milk for these!!! Below is the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Brownies
Adapted from Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007

Makes 32 brownies, more or less, depending on how you cut them

These “brownies” are more blondie than cakey, with an excellent peanut butter-chocolate contrasts and fantastic edges, for those of you into that sort of thing. Have a glass of milk handy.

For brownies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)**
1/2 teaspoon salt, see note**

For ganache
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)**
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)

Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heatproof bowl.

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.

Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Brownies keep in one layer in an airtight container three days, and we hope much longer if hidden waaay in the back of the freezer.

Peppermint Bark Cupcake Brownies…or Brownie Cupcakes

I was inspired by my friend on Twitter (@JavaCupcake) to create a holiday cupcake, recipe and all. So I decided on a peppermint bark brownie cupcake, I think they look really really really good.

Here is the recipe I used:

1 2/3 cup soft unsalted organic butter
13 ounces of the best organic bittersweet chocolate (I find everything at Whole Foods and Trader Joes)
6 large organic eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup organic sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (organic of course)
1 teaspoon salt

You can pretty much alter any of your favorite brownie recipes or chocolate cake recipes with organic ingredients to make cupcakes/brownies and you can also add nuts to this recipe if you’d like, I chose not to but if I did, I’d probably use 1 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.

Preheat your oven to 350.
Melt butter and chocolate together in a large heavy pan.
In a bowl: beat eggs with vanilla and sugar.
Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
Once the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a little before beating in the eggs and vanilla and sugar. Than add nuts and flour or just flour if you aren’t using nuts.
Beat until smooth.
I use an ice cream scooper to get the same amount in each cupcake paper. I also make sure the cupcake paper is sprayed with a cooking spray before filling them with batter so the brownies come out easily, if you are using a cake mix, you do not need to spray the cupcake papers.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Since these are brownies and not cake mix, take them out when it looks dense and gooey because they continue to bake while they cool, if you bake too long you’ll get a dry brownie.

This is how they should look: