Hot Cocoa Fudge Brownies

I've spent the last three days having the time of my life wiping out in the snow.  The four wheeler has been so much fun - like a jet-ski for snow and all of us kids have "tubed" our hearts out. 

Every time we come inside, the little kids always ask for hot cocoa.  Always.  It magically makes any body part cold and hurting warm.  Who knew? :) 

So these brownies were inspired by our most recent obsession with hot cocoa.  I used store bought packs in this, but feel free to use a homemade mix.  These are great for when you are short on time ... something everyone is feeling right about now.  They are fudgy and chocolate-y and will satisfy any chocolate craving you might have.  I really enjoyed the smooth frosting, with hints of hot chocolate all throughout.  I would've put mini marshmallows on top, but guess who used them all?  Apparently, real hot cocoa is more important than my brownies. :)

This is a short post, I know, but I hope you are all are already having a wonderful time with family or getting ready to rock Christmas this year! (not blogging;)  Just wanted to get one more post in before Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! 

Hot Cocoa Fudge Brownies
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Yield: 24 servings

Brownies:
1 box fudge brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Hot Cocoa Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup hot cocoa mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 + 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mini marshmallows, for topping (not pictured)

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease 9x13 pan.  Beat first four brownie ingredients together.  Stir in chocolate chips and spread into prepared pan.  Bake for time directed on box (I did 27 minutes)
For frosting:  Beat butter,  hot cocoa mix, sugar, and flour together, add milk gradually.  Stir in vanilla.  Spread frosting over cooled brownies.  Please top with mini marshmallows, even though I didn't!

Once again, Merry Christmas, and remember, no matter how cliche, who the reason for the season is!

Nutella Swirled Hot Chocolate Banana Bread

Sometimes I think you shouldn't have to bake batter.

Batter is always good.  Always sweet, always gooey, always finger lickin' good.  Yet I can't tell you how many times my quick breads have turned out plain Jane, nothin' stands out, run of the mill because they weren't very sweet.  Batter, oh wow.  Bread.  Uh, wow, you really tried too hard on this one, didn't you.

I'm learning baking on the fly with just an idea in your mind (poetry points, anyone?) doesn't always work.  My main problem is I like to combine flavors, so I think, just combine the recipes right?  Nice try, one calls for 3 eggs and another calls for 1.  They have the same amount of flour, but different amounts of oil.  So how do I combine?  Well, I fail first and try to improve.  Always write down your experiments.  Then you can adjust and try again.  I almost cry any time I waste a banana.  There is just too much you can do with them.  I thought I had wasted three of them on this bread.  But when I feel like crying over ripe bananas (I don't ever cry over spilled milk . . . I'm not that emotional) I go look at this website and realize people have done a lot worse than incorrectly guestimate how much cocoa, sugar, and eggs a quick bread is going to need. 

Moving on from the quick bread turned quick disaster . . . I let this bread sit a couple days (after testing it after dinner one night and deciding it was the ho hum, run of the mill type bread) coming up with a way to rescue it so it would be eaten.  I tried it again to discover it was not that bad after having sat for a few days!  Like, it was actually good!   

But I went ahead with my salvaging plan and crumbled up a couple slices.  (I had to cut the tops off of each piece because of how soft they are.)  Then I mixed the crumbs with some cream cheese and hot cocoa mix and squished them up into balls.  Then after an hour in the fridge I did what any self respecting person would've done . . . dipped them in Nutella!  That was an original flavor anyways and more is better, right?

Overall, I liked the bread better by itself after it sat. It is sweet enough, still has the banana flavor, but the hot chocolate blends with the Nutella really well.   The truffles weren't as good in my opinion, but feel free to give it a go if you have old crumbly bread.

Nutella Swirled Hot Chocolate Banana Bread

1/4 cup +1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
2-1/2 bananas
1 tbsp. milk
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 cup hot chocolate mix
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dark cocoa powder*
1/4-1/2 cup Nutella

Beat butter and applesauce with the sugar.  Add bananas, milk, and egg.  Stir in flour, hot chocolate, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.  Pour into greased loaf pan and swirl in Nutella.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

*This was mainly to give it color, because I thought the batter was too light.  Use more if you are using regular cocoa.

Let sit overnight!!! This gives the Nutella a chance to make the top of the bread all soft and gooey.  If you do a better job than I of swirling it throughout the bread, your bread will be even softer.

Mixing up Gifts and Playing in the Snow!

My dreams have come true.

Really, you ask?  Really?  Well, ok, maybe my real dreams haven't come true, but my dreams of cute baking gifts have.  It's very hard to make cute cookies, bars, or breads without un-cutifying them on the drive to wherever you are going.
That's when I discovered the wonder of desserts in jars.  Not only do you give a gift that the person can enjoy at their leisure, but you can decorate the jar with all the adorable ribbon and beautiful paper you want!  These gifts are long on cute and short on money and time.  Perfect combination in my book. 

I made Cocoa Mocha Mix, Cranberry Oatmal Cookie Mix, Chai Mix and my grandmother's much fought over, much sought after Hot Cocoa Mix.

Hot Cocoa Mix
4 (1 quart) cups instant dry milk
2 (1 lb.) cups Nestle Quick
2 (1 lb.)cups powdered sugar
11 oz. coffee creamer

Mix all together and add to hot water to enjoy!

Saltine Toffee

I also made toffee, which is delicious. Oh so addicting. Even my dad and brothers liked it!

I watched the boys play in the snow while I packed the jars and then after lunch, joined them.  We piled all our snow and packed it down into a slide and rolled down it again and again.  Nathan and I jumped over it and slid down, too.  This morning, me and Nathan had to retrieve the garbage can from the end of our half mile driveway and we slid on all the ice patches.  After everyone finished their cleaning chores, we were free to pull on snow clothes and play outside.  We plodded through the drifts, jumped off the trailer into the snow, and tried unsuccessfully to slide down the slope in our field.  The snow found its way down our jackets and gloves, but honestly, we didn't care.  Not until someone scrubbed our face that is.  Then it was time to go inside . . . and get hot cocoa.  Or in my case, chai.  The batch makes eight cups! 

This was John Caleb's first time playing in the snow with us.  We dubbed him "the blueberry" as his snow suit is round and bright blue.  Oh, but my heart melts whenever I see him.  He would jump off the trailer into my arms and then I would toss him into the snow.  He would take off his gloves every time they got snow on them, whispering, "dirty, dirty."  His grin makes me grin and his little voice cracks me up.  Like just now, he cans running up to Mom, telling her about his cows.  Picking him up she asks him, "So you know I like you?"  Not even looking at her, he replied, "Yes, -" and then continues speaking in whatever language he has created.  I love that boy.

Playing in the Snow!!!

Jumping off the Trailer

Elizabeth

Being goofy with their hot chocolate.  Their hat hair cracks me up!

Love my "blueberry!"

Snow angels . . . this one is mine.  Notice the sunglasses?