Apple Toffee Bars {with Brown Sugar Frosting}

There are approximately 750 light switches in my house.

(Okay, I may be exaggerating a little. I haven't had a chance to count them all, so I was just guessing.)

So, there are plenty of switches. But the problem I'm having is where they were placed. I'm not an architect or a fancy electrical switch placement designer or anything, but I do have common sense.

And the fancy electrical switch placement designer that did our house must have been having an off day.

Our staircase is in the middle of the house; you can walk around it. When you come in the front door and go left, you get to the dining room and then the kitchen. If you go right, you go to the family room and then the kitchen.

We never go left. Why not? Because all the light switches for the kitchen are in the family room. So if it's dark and I forget I have to walk through the kitchen to get to the lights.

But if I'm in the laundry room, a room that is no bigger than the span of my arms, there are two light switches for the overhead light. So I can, in theory, stretch out my arms and turn the light on with my right and off with my left at the same time.

I chuckle every time I go in there. It's like a fun party game. That and sliding down the stairs in a plastic bin, which I have yet to do but I really, really want too.

Until I get up the nerve to do that, I'll just stuff my face with these babies. These Apple Toffee Bars are sort of like a cookie, but in bar form. With frosting. Brown sugar frosting. And toffee. Oh, and apple, of course. Sinfully sweet, and healthy enough for breakfast because there is fruit in them. Right?

Apple Toffee Bars {with Brown Sugar Frosting}

Adapted from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the bars:

1 pouch (17.5 ounces) sugar cookie mix

1 egg

1 stick of butter, softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup toffee bits (Bit o’ Brickle)

1 cup (1 large or 2 small) apples, peeled, cored, and chopped finely

For the Frosting:

¼ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoon milk

1 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2.       Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat sugar cookie mix, egg, butter, and cinnamon until fluffy. Stir in toffee bits and apples. Press into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before making frosting.

3.       To make the frosting, add butter, milk, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cool slightly and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.

4.       Remove foil from the bottom of the cookie bars. Pour frosting over the top of the bars, smoothing out to the edges. The top of the frosting will dry quickly. Let set before cutting into bars, about 30 minutes to one hour.

Yield: about 20 bars

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)

Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great; very low key. We ended up staying home and making dinner for just the three of us. It was just what we needed to get back to normal after the craziness of the past few weeks. I do have one question though. Why is it that, when you make a huge dinner with sides you lust after all year long, it looks like there is so much food but then the leftovers are gone in two days? All I have left is some frozen turkey. No more stuffing. No more (Pioneer Woman's) mashed potatoes. I think I'll just have to make turkey dinner #2 for Christmas this year. And make twice as much stuffing. Or three times.

Here are some of the tasty treats that caught my eye this week:

Almond Joy Bars by The Ranch Wife Chronicles. Really, she had me at Almond Joy. But these have butterscotch and NUTELLA in them too! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Cookie Dough Crust by Armstrong Family Fare. Doesn't this cheesecake make you want to eat your computer screen? Oh, and it has a cookie dough crust. Um, yes please, I'll take three slices.

Pumpkin Spice Toffee Whoopie Pies with Brown Sugar Buttercream Filling by Bakeaholic Mama. Toffee. Brown Sugar Buttercream. Pumpkin. Pecans. Need I say more?

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Pie by The Farm Girl Recipes. Um it's a pie that has pretzels and chocolate. Oh, and did I mention it was a PIE? I want it. NOW. (Have I mentioned that I'm so not good at delayed gratification?)

Turtle Bark by The Weekly Sweet Experiment. This was the #1 viewed recipe this week and one of my favorites. I love bark, and anything with Turtle in the title is perfect for me. It's going on my "mom list" (things I want to make for my mom).

Thank you all for linking last week! I hope you'll join again this week.

These recipes have all been Pinned and Stumbled. Spread the sweetness!

All photos above belong to their respective blogs. I just swiped them to show off their awesomeness.Thanks to everyone for linking up last week! I hope you'll join again today.

If you've been featured be sure to grab a button from the Crazy Sweet Tuesday tab.

Let's start the party! I only have a few things to ask of you:

1. Dessert recipes only please! Link to the URL of your post, not your main page.
2. Grab a button (on the left sidebar) and link back to me in some way.
3. I'd love if you would follow me in some way. If you're new here, leave a comment so I can make sure to come say hi.
4. Click through to some of the other pages and see what everyone else is baking.

Linky will be open through Friday. Be sure to check back next week to see if you've been featured!

Christmas Tree Brownie Bites

Nine years ago, my husband and I had just finished placing the last ornament on the tree when it fell over.

Yes, you read that right. It. Fell. Over. Onto a tile floor.

We stood there for a minute in complete silence. It was one of those frozen-in-time moments, where it takes a minute to comprehend what happened.

Luckily, the only major casualties were colored glass balls, ones that could be easily replaced. One of my favorite glass ones still, to this day, has a hole in it as a result of the tumble. I just handle it gently and put it near the top, imperfect side in and no one is the wiser.

A few years later, I was (very) pregnant and home alone with our newly decorated tree while my husband was at work, 45 minutes away. We had put shims in the tree stand to make sure it wouldn't fall over.

When I walked into the living room and noticed the tree listing about 15 degrees off center, my husband made the drive home to fix the problem.

After that we made it a habit to tie the tree to the wall with screws and fishing line.

The first time I thought about Christmas in this new house, I was excited because we actually have a living room window that faces the street, a perfect Christmas tree window. I haven't had one of those in any of the houses we've lived in.

The second thing I thought about? That the window ledge is a little low, but it'll do as a tree-anchoring site.

Perfect.

Remember those Candy Corn Brownie Bites? I used the same pan for these trees. But I covered them in green candy melts. I used candy-coated sunflower seeds for my ornaments, but you could use any small colorful candy. My star is a hand-drawn one made of yellow candy melts, but a gumdrop would work too.

That's one tree I wouldn't mind picking up the pieces of if it fell over, that's for sure.

Christmas Tree Brownie Bites

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix (Family Size), plus ingredients listed to make the brownies

Green candy melts, about a package for a full brownie mix

Candy coated sunflower seeds or other small colored candy for lights

Yellow candy melts or small yellow gumdrops for stars

Brownie Pop Pan (Wilton)

Directions:

1.       Mix brownies according to package directions.  Spray your brownie pop pan liberally with cooking spray and fill each cavity 2/3 full of brownie mix. Bake 18-20 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before dipping.  (Note: the entire brownie mix makes about 24 brownies using this pan, meaning three trips through the oven.)

2.       First, melt your green candy melts in microwave safe bowl. (If you're having trouble getting a smooth consistency, try adding a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil.) Place the brownie tree in the green melted candy and cover completely. Scoop up with a fork and tap off the excess candy. Place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet.

3.       Use a toothpick to scrape up the sides of the brownie a little, to make it look more like it has tree branches. Randomly place your candy-coated sunflower seeds or other small candy around the tree like lights. Chill until hardened.

4.       Next, melt your yellow candy melts (you won’t need very many). Place melted yellow candy in a ziploc sandwich bag. Seal and snip off one corner. Draw stars with the yellow candy onto waxed paper and chill until firm. (Alternately, you can use yellow gumdrops for this step.)

5.       Remove brownie trees and stars from refrigerator. Using a little melted yellow candy, attach the stars to the trees.

Note: Serve on a bed of coconut to look like snow.

Yield: 24 brownies


Happy decorating! Who already has their tree up? Ours will be anchored sometime next weekend. :)

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)

Christmas Card Cookies

And now, for the real holiday this weekend...Black Friday! (Just kidding.) {Sorta.}

This is from our Christmas card last year. I don't know where the idea came from...but I wanted to do something with food and this popped into my head.

I think the caption was something like "Don't eat too many cookies this year!" or something like that.

I don't think I've ever had as many comments on a card as I did from this one.

I'm off shopping this morning but I wanted to share something with you. If you haven't started your Christmas card yet...I thought I'd give you an idea.

These cookies were made from a gingerbread mix and Wilton cookie icing. Once the icing dried I drew the bodies on using food writers. I use Creative Memories Storybook Creator for this sort of photo editing, but I assume Photoshop can do the same thing.

And no, I don't stay up all night shopping. I value my sleep. I get up at my regular time and go after I've had a cup of coffee. I know I'm not getting any doorbusters. I go to get me into the Christmas spirit. Although I must say, I miss a few years ago when none of the stores opened until 6am. Gave me a fighting chance.

I'm not sure what I'm doing for a Christmas card this year. Somehow I have a feeling it won't top last years'.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see y'all next week with some yummy Christmas treats!

Apple Crumb Cookies

So...Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Which means you're all ready for food, football, and family drama, right?

You know what I'm ready for? A cocktail or 6 Pie, of course!

Since it took this blog awhile to get off it's hind legs, most of you probably aren't familiar with my inspiration and why I named this site what I did. It really all started with this pie.

{Don't judge my pictures! I didn't know what "natural light" meant at the time.}

Anyway, Apple Crumb Pie is kinda what I'm "famous" for in my family. It should actually be called "Crumb Apple" because let's be honest. The crumb is the best part (well, that and the crust, that is). I started making it so many years ago I can't remember when. I originally followed a recipe from this old cookbook of my moms, a red-checkered Better Homes & Garden one from so many years ago. I've changed and altered it so much over time that I now consider it my own.

I know, I know. This post is about cookies. I've gotten a little off topic. But not really.

Because I made my apple crumb pie, but in cookie form.

Same yummy apple-crust-crumb flavor, but in a small, delectable bite.

And it's super heavy on the crumb-crust, thankyouverymuch. Right up my alley.

I cook my apples before I put them in pie, so I did the same. Layer some cooked Grannies on a sweet pie dough (or use store-bought, I won't judge), sprinkle with crumble, roll, slice, and bake. Oh and then drizzle with white chocolate.  Because all that crumb isn't sweet enough.

What can I say? Much like me most of the time, they needed a good accessory to complete the look.

So if you need something to take to your Great-Aunt Hilda's tomorrow...now you have it.

Go ahead. Chase your turkey-stuffing-mashed potato self with one or two or six of these little guys. It's what Thanksgiving is all about!

Apple Crumb Cookies

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1 ¼ cups flour

¼ cup sugar

½ cup cold butter, diced

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup ice water

OR

1 store-bought crust (from a package of two)

For the Crumb:

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

1 apple, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Garnish:

¼ cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       To make the crust: add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water slowly until mixture comes together to form a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until the rest of your ingredients are ready.

2.       To make the Crumb: add butter, flour, and sugar in a medium bowl. Cut it with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can also use a pastry cutter for this step.

3.       To make the filling: peel and dice apple. Place in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar and cook for about 3 minutes, just until apples start to lose their whiteness. Remove from heat.

4.       To assemble cookie: roll out crust on a lightly floured surface. Top evenly with apples. Cover apples with crumble. Roll tightly and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, at least one hour. (You can stick it in the freezer to speed up this step.)

5.       Preheat oven to 350°. Remove chilled cookie roll from refrigerator and cut into ½” slices. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake until golden, about 12-18 minutes. Let cool.

6.       To garnish: melt the while chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Transfer to a Ziploc bag and snip off one corner. Pipe onto cookies and let harden before serving.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)

Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Happy Thanksgiving week! You're all ready right? No more trips to the store? You have your table set already and your serving dishes labeled and ready to go.

What? Am I wrong?

Since you're probably bored with nothing to do, you're reading blogs and checking out features. Which is great, since I have some good ones for you.

Buckeyes from The Sweet Swiper. Now, these are normally peanut butter and chocolate, which are always winners in my book. But these are made with Biscoff. Yep, you read that right. Biscoff Buckeyes. Sigh.

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies by Mother Thyme. Now, I love icing sugar cookies. A lot. And this picture? Makes me want to eat my screen. I'm seriously drooling and wondering if I can go make them RIGHT NOW.

Chewy Chocolate Meringues by The South Padre Island Flip Flop Foodie. I love chocolate meringues and have been wanting to make them for awhile. These make me want to make them soon. Like RIGHT NOW. See a trend? I must be hungry.

"Go-to" Stuffed Croissants by Something Swanky. I think I'm in love with Ashton from Something Swanky. This dessert is ... well I have no words. Let's just say if she and I can ever get together and bake stuff we'll be needing to bring our largest size stretchy yoga pants. These are. Amazing!

Thank you all for linking last week! I hope you'll join again this week.

These recipes have all been Pinned and Stumbled. Spread the sweetness!

All photos above belong to their respective blogs. I just swiped them to show off their awesomeness.Thanks to everyone for linking up last week! I hope you'll join again today.

If you've been featured be sure to grab a button from the Crazy Sweet Tuesday tab.

Let's start the party! I only have a few things to ask of you:

1. Dessert recipes only please! Link to the URL of your post, not your main page.
2. Grab a button (on the left sidebar) and link back to me in some way.
3. I'd love if you would follow me in some way. If you're new here, leave a comment so I can make sure to come say hi.
4. Click through to some of the other pages and see what everyone else is baking.

Linky will be open through Friday. Be sure to check back next week to see if you've been featured!

Pecan Pie Brownies

I am thankful for my family. For my husband and my daughter and his parents and siblings and my parents and everyone in between.

I am thankful for my friends, old and new.

I am thankful that I have a place to call home.

I am thankful for my dog and cat.

I am thankful that I can buy groceries and lots of baking staples so that I can bake yummy treats.

I am thankful for this blog, so I can share them all with you.

I am thankful that my daughter goes to a good school and has an awesome teacher.

I am thankful for brownies with a crust.

I am thankful for hot coffee and coffee-mate.

I am thankful that if I want to top my brownies with a pecan pie, I can.

I am thankful for my health, and the health of my family and friends.

I am thankful for the sound of my daughters' laughter.

I am thankful for all of you, my readers, who stop by here and read my words and leave me sweet comments. You make me happy.

I am thankful for this life and that I can take a step back and realize how good it is.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving week?

Pecan Pie Brownies
Adapted from Bakerella

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

2 sticks butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 ¾ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

For the Brownies:

1 box Brownie Mix (9x13” pan Family Size)

Eggs, water, and oil called for on the brownie mix box

For the Pecan Pie topping:

¼ cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

2.       Combine crust ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, and salt) in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until mixture comes together. Press into prepared pan and set aside.

3.       Mix brownies according to the directions on the box. Pour batter on top of crust.

4.       Make your filling by mixing the melted butter, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a medium bowl. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and pecans. Pour over brownie batter and spread as evenly as possible.

5.       Bake for 50-60 minutes until the center only jiggles slightly. Or you can do the toothpick check 2 inches from the side of the pan. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Serve with ice cream for an extra scrumptious treat!

Yield: 24 bars

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)

Peppermint Pattie Place Cards {for a Vampire wedding}

Twilight changed my life.

I know there are two camps of people out there; one of which just took a double take at those words and thought "that lady is crazy!" The other half? Nodded their heads in agreement.  Am I right?

Something about that series of books changed the way I read. It changed what I read. I didn't think it was possible but those books made me want to read even more than I already did.

They made me feel like a 13-year old again, pining away for Joey McIntyre...except now I'm a thirty-something mom and wife pining over a sparkly vampire.

And the only difference between me and those teeny-bopper girls in the movie theater who scream and swoon every time Jacob removes his shirt? I'm adult enough to to let the sound escape my lips.

Needless to say, the release of the first Breaking Dawn movie is a big deal. I already have my ticket, and I'm not going until Sunday.

And you can't see such a monumental movie without a themed treat, right?

Bella and Edward has such a beautiful wedding. I'm sure there was some sort of seating chart; Alice seems like that sort of type-A person. Why shouldn't the place cards be chocolate?

When I realized that Karen at Trilogy Edibles has as big an obsession with the Twilight series that I do, it was a no brainer that we would do themed posts today. Karen has made a beautiful checkerboard cake with browned butter icing and little chess pieces. She's a master, if I do say so myself. I thought about doing chess pieces for about a millisecond before I moved on to other ideas.

My mold came from Sur la Table. These are so easy to make. Once you have your filling mixed, you melt your chocolate. Spread some around the bottom and up the sides of your mold, freeze to harden, then add a little peppermint mixture. Freeze again for just a few minutes, then top it off with more chocolate. Once they are firm you can release them from the mold and add names to the front.

{FYI, Peppermint Extract looks eerily like Mint Extract. But don't make the same mistake I did. You want peppermint extract, NOT mint. Unless you want to eat chocolate covered gum flavor, that is.}

And if you happen to be serving humans and werewolves instead of vampires, or if you think I'm totally crazy for making movie-themed treats and want a non-bloody version, you can use a mini muffin pan (silicone) and leave your filling white. Just as good, not as gross.

So yes, I know the Cullen's don't eat food. But if that food was filled with blood? I bet they'd make an exception.

If you love the Twilight series and are as excited about the Breaking Dawn movie as we are, be sure to go check out Karen's post. It's Cullen mania around here. My shirt is already to go. Team Edward forever!

Peppermint Pattie Place Cards (or candies)
Recipe by Crazy for Crust

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups powdered sugar (more if you want a less runny center)
1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract
1-2 packages chocolate almond bark (buy 2 just in case, start with melting 1 package and add more as needed) or you could use chocolate candy melts
White candy melts (just about 1/4 cup)

Directions:

1. Add sweetened condensed milk to a large bowl. Slowly stir in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Stir in extract.
2. Melt chocolate according to package directions. Add a small spoonful to your mold or mini muffin pan (if you are not using a silicone pan you should use mini muffin liners). Spread chocolate up sides of mold. Tap to settle. Freeze until hardened, about 2 minutes.
3. Spoon a small amount of peppermint filling into center of chocolate shell. Freeze again for about 1-2 minutes. Remove from freezer and top with more chocolate, enough to cover filling. Tap to settle and freeze until hardened. Pop out of mold and repeat until all your chocolate and filling are gone.
4. If you are making place cards, melt white candy melts according to package directions. Place in a small squeeze bottle with a #2 tip attached. Pipe names on each candy. Let dry before stacking.

Note: if you want a less runny center, add more powdered sugar in step 1, until you get the consistency you want.

Have a sparkly weekend!

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)

Red Velvet Brownie Pie {#LovethePie}

So we got all moved into our house. There are boxes everywhere and I can't find anything, but we're in. My parents left (thank goodness for their moving help!) and we were looking forward to a nice and relaxing night in our new home. A glass of wine, a hot bath (for me), and a marathon of Hawaii 5-0 on the couch.

And then I pulled the plug to drain the bathtub after my hot, soothing soak.

And my husband started yelling. "PLUG THE BATHTUB!"

I ran downstairs to find my kitchen sink just about to overflow with water.

Under the sink it was raining from the garbage disposal.

Not only was the sink full of water, there were bits of dirt floating around. And pieces of paper. I won't say what kind. You can probably guess.

Thank God for home warranties and plungers.

And bleach.

Oh, and pie, of course.

As soon as I heard that Tidy Mom was hosting her #Love the Pie party again this year, I knew I had to participate. How could I not?




Plus, I needed some balance after all the water and bleach and plunging. I needed to bake and I needed pie.

Since brownies are a huge obsession for me right now, I thought about a brownie pie. I have had my eye on this recipe for awhile now and thought a red pie would go good this time of year.

Since it's practically a Thanksgiving rule that you have whipped cream on your pie and red velvet goes so good with cream cheese frosting, I married the two and made a cream cheese whipped cream on the side. Because brownies and pie crust isn't sinful enough.

Pie: the solution to all life's problems. Well, and a plumber, anyway.

Enjoy!

Do you have a great pie recipe? Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton, Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press.

Red Velvet Brownie Pie with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
Brownie recipe from How Sweet Eats
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream inspired by Allrecipes

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ¼ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ounce red food coloring

2/3 cup chocolate chips

1 pie crust, packaged or from scratch

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350°. Unroll your pie crust and place in a 9” pie plate. Chill until ready to fill.

2.       Combine cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and food coloring in a small bowl. Stir to form a paste.

3.       Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then add remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add cocoa powder mixture and beat until completely incorporated. Mix in flour and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared crust.

4.       Bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (or only slightly colored). You may want to cover the edges of your crust with foil before baking. (I forgot and my edges got a little too brown for my tastes.) Cool completely. Serve with cream cheese whipped cream.

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Beat 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar about 5 minutes until soft peaks form. Chill until ready to use. Mix 4 ounces softened cream cheese with ½ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla using a hand-held mixer. Fold into whipped cream. Serve with Red Velvet Brownie Pie (or just with a spoon, I won’t tell).

This recipe may be linked with:

Monday: Mingle Monday (Add a Pinch), Joy of Desserts. Tuesday: 2 Maids a Baking (2 Maids a Milking), Tea Party Tuesdays (Sweetology), Mushki Loves My Stuff (Mushki Loves), Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy's Recipe Box), Talent Show Tuesday (Chef in Training). Wednesday: Cast Party Wednesday, Made It On Monday (Lark's Country Heart), This Chick Cooks.  Thursday: Sweet Treats Thursday (Something Swanky), Chic-and-Crafty (Frugal Girls), Turning the Table Thursdays (Around My Family Table), Tasty Thursday (The How-To Mommy), Tastetastic Thursday (A little nosh). Friday: Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home). Saturday: Sweets for a Saturday (Sweet as Sugar Cookies), Seasonal Inspiration (Crumbs and Chaos). Sunday: A Well-Seasoned Life,Sharing Sundays (Everyday Sisters), Strut your Stuff Saturday (Six Sisters' Stuff)