teacher by day - chef by night
You may have seen these brownies floating around The Internet. They have been called many names… I am using the Family Friendly “Triple Decker Brownie” but they can also be called “3-Layer Brownies” or for those of you who are a bit more risque and …
Do you crave sweets?
Does the fact that you crave sweets lead you to have to buy larger pants?
Are you not willing to give up certain foods/flavors?
Can you promise me that you will at least try this before making a face?
Everyone LOVES brownies… seriously, what is not to love!? I have recently baked up two different brownies for people that I care a lot about.
Brownies #1 – Brownies from a box (doctored up a little) that are so totally amazing!! A few weeks ago I chaperoned my High School’s Theatre trip to NYC to see Addam’s Family, starring Nathan Lane 🙂 I ‘promised’ my director and his wife (my building’s band teacher) who both happen to be great friends (and frequent readers of my blog) that I would make brownies – so I couldn’t let them down! I got up early before heading into school and whipped up a batch of these super-easy & super-amazing brownies for good friends as well as the high schoolers who were on our bus (and a great bunch of talented, helpful, sweet kids). Due to the AM rush, there are no photos of these… but I’ll make them again!
Oh yeah – talking about those great kids… they perform Bye Bye Birdie THIS WEEKEND (March 3 – 5, 2011) & as their Properties Mistress (and a fan of the Bangor High School Theatre Department) they are great! I’m just home from Opening Night & proud of them, so hopefully you read this before the run is over and get to see the show, I’m going to miss a lot of these kids who are graduating this year and put out as much time on stage as they do for the backstage work. The BAHS Class of 2011 is leaving big shoes to fill!
Brownies #2 After making cupcakes for my Big Boulder Ski School Family last weekend, I got a request for Brownies – so immediately, my thoughts went to this “better than *bleep* brownies” recipe that I had bookmarked a while ago! I ended up spending my Saturday with my Bangor kids for Bye Bye Birdie, then woke up Sunday with a migraine – but when I finally made it up to the mountain just after lunch on Sunday my Ski School Family inhaled these!
They were pretty good – but in the words of Jolene (elementary band & production manager extrodienair) “these are good, but not sure if they are better than bleep”. My parents didn’t like the rice crispy top. I thought the flavors were good, but the textures were off – so I’ll have to work on a chocolate/peanut butter/with crunch brownie that works.
COMPARING: survey says… (keep in mind, these were made almost 2 months apart) the easier to make Chocolate Caramel Brownies are the Winner!
Brownie #1 – Chocolate Caramel Brownies (from a box – nice!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside. Combine cake mix, butter, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and vanilla. Mix well and spread ½ of the batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes.
Melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. OR just use about 1/2 a container of caramel ice cream topping!!! Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the partially cooked brownies. Pour the melted caramel mixture over the top and with a teaspoon, drop the remaining ½ of the batter evenly over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Let cool (pop in the freezer if you just can’t wait at this point) and cut into bars.
Brownie #2 – “Better than Beep Brownies”
For the Brownie Layer:
In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients until smooth. Spread into the bottom of a lightly greased 8×8 inch baking dish. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until the brownie is cooked through. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until softened. (I also added some milk as needed which was not called for – but I needed to soften & cream it up a bit). Press atop cooled brownie.
For the Chocolate Krispie Layer
In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, melt the milk chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream together for 45 seconds or so. Stir. Microwave an additional 30 seconds, if needed. Just enough to make the mixture melty, smooth, and creamy. Stir in Rice Krispies cereal. Immediately spread over peanut butter layer. (feel free to throw in some mini marshmallows the 2nd time you throw it in the microwave too). Allow layer to cool & set before slicing & serving. (store in the fridge)