Blondie and Chocolate Brownies

I have been sitting on the edge of my seat. Wondering & hoping. Imagining and pondering. Will the Kings become the Sonic's? Can it be true?  

I haven't always been a Sonic's fan (Washingtonian's please don't pelt me with tomatoes) My loyalty was with the Trailblazers for many moons.  Since moving to Washington over a decade ago I became a fan of our state sports. With the same enthusiasm as cheering for the Seattle Storm (WNBA), I will welcome and support the Sonic's.

I don't know if this Sacramento deal with go through. Quite frankly I don't care where a team comes from, I just want a team. Is that greedy? I'm not saying that I won't feel badly for Sacramento if they loose their team. I think I know how they will feel if they loose their team. We lost the Sonics to Oaklahoma City back in 2008. But at the end of the day it's about business and the bottom line & I get that.

May our bottom line be as sweet as these cute brownies. After all, Valentine's Day is right around the corner....

Blondie and and Chocolate Brownie

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup M & M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9"x9" glass pan.

Cream butter and sugars in an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl add flour and baking powder. Mix. Pour into the butter/sugar mixture. Mix well. Remove half the batter and place into a bowl.

In the microwave melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Pour over the remaining batter that is located in the mixer.  Mix well. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the bottom of the greased pan.

Spread the blondie mixture on top of the chocolate layer. Sprinkle the M & M's on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted and removed is mostly clean/dry.

Are you a NBA or WNBA Fan? Which team is your favorite?

Brownie Bites with Salted Caramel Frosting

These little buggers are so damn good! Sorry, without the damn it's just not the same. I really had to go there because these bites are a chocolaty, caramely, sweet and salty dream come true. Here's how to do it & yes, you'll want to do it!

Yield: 48 minis

Brownie:

• Mini muffin tins
• 48 mini paper liners
• 48 caramels ( I chose to use whole caramels, however, you can easily slice them in half and get amazing results)
• 4 ounces of dark chocolate (I use the pound bars sold at Trader Joe's)
• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla (Trader Joe's)
• 1 cup flour
• PAM spray

Salted Caramel Frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 15 caramels
• 2 heaping tablespoons of heavy cream
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• sea salt to taste (I used 2 teaspoons)

Frosting Garnish

• 1 ounce of dark chocolate (Trader Joe's)
• Zester or Grater

Preheat oven to 325. Line mini muffin tin with paper liners. Spray liners with PAM

Brownie: In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and chocolate for about one minute.  Stir then place back in the microwave for an additional minute as needed. Mix well. Pour into an electric mixer. Add sugar and mix for one minute. Add eggs, mix for 30 seconds.  Add vanilla, salt and flour. Mix well.  

Place a teaspoon size amount in the liner. Place the caramel on top. Place another teaspoon size amount of batter on top of the caramel. No need to cover the caramel neatly. It will melt and fold in properly.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Cool.

Frosting: Place caramels in a microwave safe bowl and add the heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove, stir then microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until combined and allow to cool down for about 5 minutes.

Place the butter in an electric mixer. Mix for 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, a bit at a time. Add the caramel. Mix well. Add salt to taste. Place in a pastry bag and decorate.

Garnish: Using a zester, grate the chocolate over the bites.

Enjoy!

Notes:

Recipe adapted from http://bakeitinacake.com/recipes/franssaltedcaramelcupcakes

I modified the steps, cooking temperature, added PAM spray, used dark chocolate rather than unsweetened chocolate & substituted bourbon vanilla for vanilla.

Brownie Dream Bars

Yesterday we went on a dreamy family bike ride from our house to Lake Padden. We were flying down the road, dodging the caterpillar brigade along the way. Waving at the neighbors. Pushing hard up trail hills & saying our "hello's" and "excuse me's" and "thank you's" as we passed pedestrians. Weaving back and forth up the steep road.  Quads burning. Sweat dripping. No tears, no whining.  Our kids are at ages where they have more composure, more strength and more stamina- Yay!  Speaking of dreamy, here's one of my favorite ways to dress up the classic brownie.

• Ghiradelli brownie mix, prepared according to directions
• 2/3 cup coconut
• 2/3 butterscotch chips
• 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cups pecans
• 3/4 + cup sweetened condensed milk

Prepare your favorite boxed brownie mix and bake for just 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cover the top with coconut, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and pecans.  Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top. Cover the surface which may require closer to one cup of sweetened condensed milk. Place back in the oven for the remainder of the time for your favorite boxed brownie mix directions.

Cool, cut then serve!

Yield 24 bars