German Chocolate Brownies

This recipe was a bit of a challenge, mostly just because melting the caramels with the evaporated milk can be such a delicate - not to mention super sticky - process. I really like that this recipe uses a boxed chocolate cake mix for the base; it's easier and incredibly rich and delicious. Despite the use of nuts in this recipe, I think it's one of my new favorites. Unfortunately, tragedy struck for the second day in a row.

The brownies were still cooling in the pan when my parents and I were leaving the house for my mother's 50th birthday party. I decided to take the brownies with us in hopes of essentially "getting rid of" most of it (after all, I bake a lot!). I clipped the lid on to the pan, and as I stepped into the garage... one of the hinges on the lid popped off and the pan dropped, most of the gooey brownie mess ending up on the dingy, grey floor... I literally gasped, and my heart sank. We saved some of the brownie, but decided to leave it at home since it was no longer "cuttable." I mean, it was pretty much just a chocolatey, caramel gooey mess that you had to eat with a spoon at that point. Luckily, it was still warm, and we all had a taste before we left.

Despite dropping on the garage floor, these brownies were absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I will most definitely make them again sometime. They were warm and gooey with caramel, and just awesome. <3 I didn't even care that there were nuts in it. I'd give these babies at least a 4 1/2, if not a 5. They are seriously just... Oh. My. God. Awesome.

Cheers! And on to September!

~Jesia <3

White Chip Brownies

My dad affectionately calls these "The World's Best Brownies." I've made them several times before, and they're especially good warmed up and paired with vanilla ice cream and a little chocolate syrup. It's a pretty standard homemade brownie recipe, nothing too difficult about it... But for some reason I had trouble with the drizzle this time. =/ You see, you reserve 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips, melt them in a Ziploc bag in the microwave as per Toll House's directions, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag, and do a nice, pretty white drizzle finish over the brownies before serving. As you can see, the brownie in the picture is sadly naked... But it was not for a lack of trying.

For whatever reason, each time I tried to do the drizzle, the white chocolate became too hard in the bag for it to come out of the hole and, well, drizzle on top of the brownies. I tried FOUR times, using an entire bag of white chocolate chips, trying to get this right. It was bizarre because I've never had this much trouble with it before. I tried both quart-size and gallon-size freezer-grade Ziploc bags; I tried microwaving the chips for less time and more time than indicated; I tried placing the bag straight in the microwave and on top of a saucer... But each time the chocolate hardened in the bag. It was very disheartening and frustrating for me. ='(

Anyway, despite the lack of white drizzle, these brownies are still pretty darn amazing. They deserve a 4 1/2 (preferably with drizzle), and if you serve it up warm with ice cream it becomes an instant O-M-G 5-star dessert.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Cinnamon Nut Bars

While I'm not sure how I feel about combining chocolate and cinnamon (it just seems odd to me, maybe because I'm not used to it), these bars are easy to make, look nice, and are very flavorful. The nuts add some bulk to the crust, and surprisingly they don't overwhelm the other flavors. Also, while there is a small amount of cinnamon in the crust, you can definitely taste it. I was a little concerned, because it didn't sound like much, but it's actually a good amount. The chocolate topping is a mixture of melted chocolate and other ingredients, and the batter is actually pretty gooey and thick, almost like brownie batter. It's an interesting recipe all the way around.

I'd give this a 4 out of 5. The taste is actually pretty amazing, even if I do think it's an odd combination.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Walnut Pie Bars

This recipe is basically a sweet crust topped with a mixture containing chocolate chips and walnuts. I'm kind of amazed at how much sugar is in this recipe - there's 1/4 cup of brown sugar in the crust, 3/4 cup each of light corn syrup and sugar in the filling, plus the sugar in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. These bars are pretty good, even though I don't like walnuts. I'd give them a 3 out of 5. A lot of the other people who tried it loooooved it.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Frosted Brownies

These brownies are pretty basic and easy to make - they're chocolate brownies with nuts inside and topped with chocolate fudge frosting. The most difficult part was actually finding a certain Toll House ingredient necessary for this recipe, called Choco Bake. They're 1 ounce packages of pre-melted unsweetened chocolate. I suppose I could've melted unsweetened chocolate pieces that I already have in the pantry, but I wanted to make sure I got this right. According to Toll House's website, Wal-Mart was supposed to carry this ingredient, but I couldn't find it there or at IGA. Thankfully, I finally found it at Kroger. I seriously wondered for a while if I would be able to make this recipe since I couldn't find the ingredient, and at the time I wasn't sure exactly what it was and what would be a good substitute. I thought maybe Choco Bake had been discontinued since I couldn't find it, but nope! You just gotta look around a little harder and utilize Toll House's ingredient search to find a store nearby that sells it.

Despite the frosting, these brownies are not overly rich. I enjoy that they're nice and chocolatey, but not too much so, and they're nice and simple. They're a classic, I'd say. I'd make these again, therefore I'll award this recipe a 4 out of 5 star rating. ^_^

Cheers! The next two bars involve nuts... "THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS!"

~Jesia <3

White Chip Meringue Dessert Squares

These were pretty easy to make. It's a simple, sweet crust topped with white chocolate chips and nuts (I used slivered almonds), then spread with brown sugar meringue and sprinkled with more nuts. Of course, as I've said before, I don't like nuts, and I think I especially hate almonds. >< I found these bars to be a little dry and too nutty. The crust is nice and sweet, but for me at least the flavor of the almonds ruins the bar overall. Of course, if you like white chocolate, almonds, and meringue, you'll probably love this. I personally think it's my least favorite of all the recipes so far, and I'd give it a 1 1/2 out of 5 rating.

I have higher hopes for the next recipe: Frosted Brownies.

Cheers!

~Jesia

Craggy-Topped Fudge Brownies

Like the Moist and Minty Brownies, this brownie recipe starts out on the stovetop and doesn't involve the mixer. They are made chocolatey with melted semi-sweet chocolate morsels, and after baking they are topped with nuts and more morsels while still hot and covered with foil. This method of sprinkling the morsels on the brownies while they're hot out of the oven and then covering with foil and chilling in the fridge seems to work well, though I still lost some of the chocolate chips on top when I cut the brownies.

These are pretty basic brownies, nothing really special. I actually find them a little bland; I think maybe some melted chocolate or some frosting would help. I'd give this recipe a 3 out of 5.

Cheers!

~Jesia