Hi, Friends! Yes, I did promise you all that I would do better and blog more than once a year. Yes, I also realize that I made that promise the last time I blogged – which was this time last year.
(more…)Cadbury Mini Egg Brownies
Raspberry Brownies
I’ve been meaning to blog these decadent brownies for a couple years now. Basically, ever since a bunch of us went out to my friends cabin and we devoured an entire pan in 2 hours. Yeah, they’re that good. They’re also incredibly simple and quick to make, which is perfect for my life these days.
One of the reasons I love the ladies on my ice hockey team is that they allow me to experiment on them with recipes. I brought a pan of these brownies to our game today and I was reassured they were blog worthy. They are rich, fudgy chocolate brownies with a tart layer of raspberry jam. Not to mention the sweet glaze on top. This recipe makes a lot of brownies (approximately 32 small squares). Because they are so rich, you can easily cut them into smaller pieces.
You can also use your homemade raspberry jam, or your favourite store bought brand. You really cannot go wrong. I highly recommend you make these for your next BBQ or picnic. They are delicious!
S’mores Brownies
Today in Canada is what is known as “May Long Weekend”, or technically, Victoria Day. To many people, May Long Weekend is the unofficial kick-off to summer. It’s the first weekend of the year people open their cabins, head to the lake, and go camping. Our family never did any camping on May Long Weekend. My parents would instead save all their holidays (3 weeks) for August and take us to the middle of nowhere Manitoba and camp with zero electricity, flushing toilets or running water. Sure, we had a pop-up tent trailer. That was great until it would rain and the canvas would leak water into my bed. Or that since there was no showers at the campground where we would religiously park ourselves at for 3 weeks, I would have to get used to showering once a week, with the remainder of the time “bathing” in the lake.
Contrary to popular belief (especially from me and my brother), my parents were not hippies. They were just minimalists who enjoyed being out in nature building campfires and fishing with their kids. My brother and I were so used to spending each summer like this since we were born, that we truly didn’t know any different. We were always super excited when August rolled around. My favourite part of camping with my parents (besides fishing and swimming) was making S’mores and toast on the campfire with Claudia. I love S’mores, They are this delicious camping comfort food that everyone can relate to. These S’mores Brownies incorporate everything in traditional S’mores – chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker. They are a great way to relive your camping days while not actually being out in the middle of the woods with no to shower. They are chocolatey, gooey and best served with vanilla ice cream. This recipe was adapted from the wonderful Joy the Baker.
Crunchy Nutella Brownies
Oh Nutella, you sweet temptress. The rich hazelnut and chocolate flavour is beyond addicting. I vowed to only buy one jar to dabble in some dessert recipes. Unfortunately, I found myself putting this delicious spread on toast quite often, which went against my baking vow. I had to do something drastic. I needed to get rid of the remaining Nutella before I ingested it all on my own. I scoured the internet and found this unbelievable recipe from La Casa de Sweets. I shared these crunchy, rich brownies with some of my girlfriends and they agreed that this recipe was indeed blog worthy.
Butterscotch Fudge Guinness Brownies
I don’t have many Irish tendencies. Being Ukrainian, I pretty much have no real reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I think I tried once. I own one of those gigantic hats that is green, white, and full of shamrocks. I honestly have no idea where I even got it from!
I’m always looking for excuses to bake. With Claudia still out of town on vacation, I figured I would play around with a new recipe. I wanted to something for St. Patrick’s Day because it was an easy theme. However, I didn’t want to bake something normal with green food colouring and call it a day – not that there is anything wrong with that! I wanted to do something I’ve never done before. I wanted to bake with beer. But not any type of beer. I wanted to bake with the king of Irish beers – Guinness.
This recipe is adapted from the little epicurean. These brownies are very moist, chewy and flavourful. The Guinness adds a richness in the brownie that could not be replicated by any other ingredient. This is the perfect (sober) way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day…or any day!