For one of my good friend’s Maddy, her mother asked me to make up a few trays of goodies for a Christmas Party she was throwing!
She specifically asked for brownies and nanaimo bars, so this is what I came up with!
All recipes are delicious. So, so, good. I’ll credit who’s website I got it from, including one of my favourite Food Network people, The Pioneer Woman! She’s so adorable, and lives on a farm which is just about the coolest thing and I sort of want to be her.
“Knock-You-Naked” Brownies
Ingredients:
- 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
- 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
- 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
- 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)
- 1/2 cup Butter, Melted
- 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
- 1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.
- Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
- In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.
- Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.
Source: The Pioneer Woman
Nanaimo Bars
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (250 mL) graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) sweetned flaked coconut or shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) finely chopped walnut halves
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling:
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) custard powder
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
- 2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) milk, (approx.)
Topping:
- 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
Directions:
- In bowl, stir together graham crumbs, coconut, walnuts, cocoa powder and sugar. Drizzle with butter and egg; stir until combined.
- Press crumb mixture into parchment paper–lined 9-inch (2.5 L) square metal cake pan. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack.Filling: In bowl, beat together butter, custard powder and vanilla. Beat in icing sugar alternately with milk until smooth, adding up to 1 tsp (5 mL) more milk if too thick to spread. Spread over cooled base; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Topping: In heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt chocolate with butter. Spread over filling; refrigerate until almost set, about 30 minutes.With tip of knife, score into bars; refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Wrap and refrigerate for up to 4 days or overwrap in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks.) Cut into bars.
Source: Canadian Living
Fudge Brownies
Ingredients:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch slices
- 1¼ cups pure cane sugar
- ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder or very finely ground coffee (optional)
- 2 cold large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup white whole wheat flour (or flour of choice)
- 2 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped (or ⅓ cup chocolate chips)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two criss-crossed pieces of parchment paper, making sure that the paper is long enough to go up the sides a couple of inches. Grease the parchment paper.
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, while whisking constantly, until it’s a pale golden brown and the particles suspended in it are reddish brown. This usually takes me about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sugar. Then add the cocoa powder, sea salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula after each one. When the mixture looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the vanilla extract and the flour. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour. Then beat vigorously (put those arm muscles to work!) for 50 strokes with the wooden spoon or spatula.
- At this point, the mixture should be no more than slightly warm (if not, let it cool for a few more minutes). Fold in the chocolate chunks or chips.
- Spread the batter in the lined pan, then use a knife to make light swirls in the top of the batter. Bake on the lower rack for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool the brownies in the pan on a baking rack.
- Once the brownies are completely cool, lift the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the brownies into 16 or 25 squares.
Source: Cookie and Kate