Mocha Frosted Brownies

I know I said in my last post that I am not a baker, but here I am again posting another recipe for a baked good. I just couldn't resist. I mean, who could resist something called Mocha Frosted Brownies?!? Not me, for sure. I mean, just look at them!!!

Oh, and thanks to The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, for this Amazing recipe! (after all, I have to give credit where credit is due. God knows I could not come up with something like this on my own!!!)

Ok, here we go!
The recipe:
   

Brownies:
       4 ounces (weight not volume) Unsweetened Chocolate
       2 sticks (1 Cup) Butter
       2 cups Sugar
       4 whole Eggs
       3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
       1-1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
   

Icing

       2 sticks (1 Cup) Butter, Softened
       5 cups Powdered Sugar
       1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
       1/4 teaspoon Salt
       3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
       1/2 cup Strongly Brewed Coffee, Cooled (more To Taste)

Preheat the oven to 325*. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Or a 9-inch square pan (that's what I used). Or a 9 x 13 if you want them to be a little thinner. The 8-inch makes them pretty thick.

For the brownies:
Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt it in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in-between. Be careful not to let it burn!!! Set it aside to cool slightly. Do not let it cool so much that it starts to solidify though.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar. Then beat in the eggs.

With the mixer on low speed, drizzle in the melted chocolate. Make sure it isn't still warm, as that will cause the eggs to scramble, which will ruin your batter.

Add the vanilla extract and mix.

Add the flour to the bowl and mix just until combined; do not over mix.

Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan. Spread it to even out the surface.

Bake until the center is no longer soft, 40 to 45 minutes. Set the brownies aside to cool completely before icing.

For the icing:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Mix until slightly combined, then add 1/2 cup of the coffee.

Whip until the icing is light and fluffy. If the icing is overly thick, add 1/4 cup more coffee. It should be very light and fluffy. If you add too much coffee, just add some more powdered sugar.

You are now ready to frost the brownies!!!! I think we all know how to do this. Just make sure the brownies are cool, otherwise the frosting will melt when you put it on them.
Also, this recipe makes a lot of frosting, so feel free to add as much or as little frosting as you prefer (I prefer a lot!)

Refrigerate until the icing is firm, and then slice the brownies into VERY SMALL squares. A little goes a long way!
Then, ENJOY (which I know you will!!!!)  :)

*Editors note: I took the first picture below before I let them cool for a while. I was too impatient and wanted to eat one!

The second picture is from The Pioneer Woman's website, and is what they look like if you cut them after they have been in the fridge for a while. Again, I need to give credit where credit is due on that picture, since it isn't mine.

Sugared Donut Muffins

If you know me, you know that I don't bake very often. But every once in a while a recipe like this one shows up, and I just can't resist. I mean, the name alone makes you want to make them! But then you see a picture of them, and you just know that you have to whip up a batch:

So let's begin. Here's the recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350* and grease your muffin tins. This recipe makes 24 mini-muffins or 10 standard muffins. (I made a dozen mini and 4 extra large)

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine.

Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract, then mix until batter is smooth and all ingredients are combined.

Divide batter evenly into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-18 minutes for standard-sized muffins or 11-12 minutes for mini-muffins.

While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.

When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack

Then Enjoy! And you will, because these really do taste like sugar donuts. So moist and fluffy!

Oh, and if you have some jelly, spread it on and they'll taste like jelly donuts (I only had strawberry, but I think grape or raspberry would be amazing!)

You can also add a little cinnamon to the sugar in case you want them to taste a little more cinnamoney :)

Enjoy!

Fish Parmigiana

Sometimes I make these amazing meals, and when I am all done I say to myself "crap! you forgot to take pictures!". That is exactly what happened here kids.
Last night I made fish (cod to be exact) Parmesan and all I have to show for it is a crappy cell phone picture, and a couple somewhat-decent camera pictures that I took after I started eating.
Sorry.
But, this is a really simple meal to make if you like fish and red sauce together (a lot of people don't).
First of all, we all know how to boil pasta, so that part needs no instructions.
And we all know how to make (or open a can of) sauce, so I'll skip that too.
All that's left then is the fish. And you make it exactly how you make chicken parm- dip it in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and drop it into a skillet with about a 1/4" of oil, heated over medium-high heat. Cook for a couple minutes (depending on the thickness of your fish), then flip and cook the other side for a couple minutes as well, until the entire piece of fish is golden brown and thoroughly cooked through.
Then just put it on top of some pasta and sauce, drizzle a little sauce over it, then grate some fresh Parmesan on top, and Voila! Fish Parm/Parmesan/parmigiana. Whatever you want to call it!
:)

Linguine with Clams

No clever title here kids, just the facts: Linguine with clams. Simple, easy and delicious- exactly what you need sometimes. 

Here's how I did it. This time. Because I do it differently every time. 

Just depends on what ingredients I've got on hand.

Step one- put a large pot of water on the stove for the linguine. Cover and turn the burner onto high.

Step two- get your ingredients together:

Linguine, chopped garlic, white wine, butter and oil (not pictured), 

Chopped clams, grape or cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil (pictured below).

For the clams, I used 3 cans, which I drained (save the juice for later). The tomatoes I cut into quarters, and the basil I sliced (the easiest way to do this is to pile all the leaves on top of each other, roll them up, then slice).

Next, add a little butter and oil to a pan, along with a couple spoonfuls of garlic, and heat on medium-high.

While the garlic is warming up, add the linguine to the pot and set a timer. It is so easy to lose track of time when cooking pasta, so make sure you always do this!

Once the garlic starts to turn brown (and this will happen very quickly) add the clam juice that you saved from the cans, then splash in a little white wine. I also recommend a little salt, and some black pepper.

After that cooks down for a couple minutes, add the clams then let that heat up for a few minutes (Oh, and don't forget to stir your pasta!).

Next, toss in the tomatoes and basil, and turn the burner down to medium-low.

While that is heating up, drain the pasta. DO NOT RINSE! Never rinse your pasta! Rinsing it washes away all the starch, which you need so that your sauce will stick to it. It's also better for the pasta so that it will absorb all the flavor of your sauce.
After you drain off the pasta, while it's still hot, toss the pasta and the clams together. I just used the pot that I cooked the pasta in.

Then, all that's left is to serve it up, and put a little fresh grated Parmesan on top.

And dinner is served!
Enjoy!