With Sprinkles on Top

Oh heaven. This recipe was highly recommended by my friend Jen, so I just had to try! She was right – these are to-die-for!

Yield: About 24 brownies

Fudge Brownies

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These are CLASSIC brownies!

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1-1/4 cups double-Dutch dark cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder (I didn’t’ have this ingredient, so I left it out)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×13″ pan.

2. In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3. While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla until smooth.

4. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

5. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: if you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6. Spoon the batter into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before serving.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you cut your brownies.

Happy Labor Day weekend! Hopefully you are all out and enjoying the last long weekend of summer. Since holiday weekends usually bring cookouts, today’s recipe fits right in!

Burgers & Fries
Recipe source: Adapted from Bakerella
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1 box yellow cake mix
1 box chocolate cake mix *or* brownie mix (I used brownie mix)
1 pouch sugar cookie mix
Vanilla frosting (store-bought or you can make your own buttercream)
Red, yellow, and green food colorings
Sesame seeds
Sanding sugar

1. Make 24 yellow cupcakes according to box directions; make the brownie mix or chocolate cupcakes according to box directions.
2. Make the sugar cookie dough according to box directions — and use the cutout cookie instructions. Most mixes will have instructions for both drop sugar cookies and cutout cookies. Roll out the dough and cut into thin strips. Bake strips at 350F for about 8 minutes, or until the sides are golden brown. If your “fries” have expanded too much, cut them in half immediately upon removing from the oven — this will ensure thin enough “fries”. Sprinkle with sanding sugar to replicate salt.
3. Once the cupcakes and brownies have cooled, remove the cupcakes from their paper liners.
4. Cut each cupcake in half – and use a 2″ round cookie cutter to cut into the brownies. When you’re finished, you’ll have the buns and burgers!
5. Dye the vanilla frosting red, yellow, and green to serve as ketchup, mustard, and lettuce. If I were to do this again, I would have used a deeper red coloring — as my ketchup looks pink!
6. Assemble the “burgers” and use a piping bag to add the colored frostings.
7. Brush a thin layer of water over the tops of the cupcakes – and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Enjoy!!

September is here! In my mind, September always marks the beginning of fall. School is back in session for most, the air starts to feel and smell different, and the leaves start to turn yellow. Fall is prime pie-baking season, but I’m not great at making pies (which Lauren has promised to help me with!) — so until my skills improve, here are some cupcakes that look like pies :)

Mini Pie Cupcakes
Inspiration from What’s New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
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– Bake a batch of cupcakes in silver foil liners.
– Tint frosting the color of pie crust – I used AmeriColor copper for this, using only a drop.
– Cover the cupcakes in red, blue, and purple candies to represent pie fillings. I used mini red and blue M&Ms and purple Skittles.
– Pipe the lattice of the pie crust onto each cupcake.

Welcome to the newly designed With Sprinkles on Top! I’m sharing one of my all-time favorite recipes today. This recipe was posted years ago on this blog, but it needs to resurface!

Chocolate Butter Cookies
Recipe source: Paula Deen
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1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. brick cream cheese, at room temp
1 egg
1 tea. vanilla extract
1 box moist chocolate cake mix
Powdered sugar for dusting

Cream butter and cream cheese with electric mixer. Beat in egg, then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the cake mix (add a little mix at a time). Cover and refrigerate for 2hrs. Preheat oven to 350F. Roll chilled batter into tablespoon-sized balls and roll them in powdered sugar. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

If you’ve been to Red Lobster, you know that their cheddar biscuits are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I don’t even like Red Lobster’s food – but I will go there for the biscuits. Food Network Magazine featured a copy-cat recipe for these delicious biscuits and let me tell you, they are equally as good as the restaurant version! And so easy to make!

Cheddar Biscuits
Recipe source: Food Network Magazine
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Biscuits:
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
6 oz grated cheddar cheese (about 1-1/4 cups)
3/4 cup whole milk

Garlic butter:
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

1. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or coat the sheet with cooking spray.
2. Make the biscuits: Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add the shortening and pulse until combined. Add the butter; pulse 4 or 5 times, or until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Add the cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times. Pour in the milk and pulse just until the mixture is moistened and forms a shaggy dough. Turn out onto a clean surface and gently knead until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough.
3. Drop the dough onto the baking sheet in scant 1/4 cup portions, 2 inches apart; bake until golden – 15-20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the garlic butter: melt the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Brush the biscuits with the garlic butter and serve warm. (if you don’t have a pastry brush, you can pour spoonfuls of the butter mixture onto the biscuits — I would also recommend making a double batch of the garlic butter to ensure that all of the biscuits get a good coating)