Monday, December 21, 2009

Death By Chocolate

*Blog update on my family blog, also.

This year I decided that I would actually bake something from all the food blogs I religiously stalk ( http://www.ourbestbites.com/, http://picky-palate.com/ are two of my FAV'S!) and make a truly delicious treat for my neighbor gifts. Delicious, but easy. I finally decided on these little beauties:

IMG_4814picnik.jpeg

(Photo from www.pickypalate.com)

So, I set off on my culinary journey and decided to take pictures along the way since, you know, I like pictures and all...(disclaimer, I am NOT a food photographer and it SHOWS!)

I started off by making brownies- from a box, and unwrapping half a million peppermint hershey kisses. I HEAVILY greased the pan as per the recipe instructions, and then shoved a kiss into the middle. See the before, and the beautiful after:


brownie WEB 6

They puffed up so nicely over the kisses, I was really excited!!! Lovely, right? Sigh....

brownie WEB 5

Except...Oh. Wait a minute. No.

brownie WEB 1

NO!

brownie WEB 3

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

brownie WEB 2
Fast forward 2 hours and a trip to the store for more ingredients INCLUDING mini cupcake holders, and we are back in business. Another batch of adorable brownies? Check.

Next, pop some chocolate chips along with some half and half in the microwave and......DARN IT!

brownie WEB 7

Okay, well, let's improvise the 'joy' way and do it on the stove. ahhhh. Much better.
brownie WEB 4

Ooooo they are coming together and looking really yummy!
brownie WEB 8

Crush some candy canes and.....I had to run outside quickly and grab one in natural light before the sun went down...
brownie WEB 9

A snap of the chaos as we are preparing all the plates...
brownie WEB 10

....and finally a quick snap of the finished product as husband gives me the 'let's go' stink eye from the door.

brownie WEB 12

Concensus: These actually ended up tasting DIVINE and were not too much work once I figured out I needed cupcake wrappers. The problem with not having wrappers was that the kisses would sink down and stick to the bottom of the pan. Otherwise, a pretty painless recipe. I could look at Our Best Bites and Picky Palate for a month straight, I am excited to try more recipes!!

7 comments:

Sarah said...

That was too funny! Well, it looks like the end result was worth it. I love that Mike was giving you the stink eye! LOL! Picky Palate is a new one for me...thanks!

Nancy said...

I have so had this problem before (and even blogged about it)! And even once when I didi it in cupcake liners they stuck to the liners, so I swore off brownie bites. I used to make them all the time and didn't have this problem, so frusterating! Someone told me on my blog that you should put the bottom of the brownie pan in ice water and then they will come right out, but I've yet to try it. They look great though!

Candi said...

Too funny! Glad they turned out in the end...they look tasty!

Eric and Katie said...

turned out darling - and look very yummy! How frustrating to have them stick in the beginning - I would have had to have a good cry and a nap before i continued. :)

Annie G. said...

Ha ha...I have made these like every other day this month! Aren't they the best? You need to add a mini cheesecake pan to your christmas list. It makes it a thousand times easier 'cause you just pop the bottoms off! They look adorable!

Blog Reader said...

These were YUMMY! I had no idea the deliciousness that awaited me when I took my first bite. I'm quite sure that none of my family got to taste one -- I ate them all!

Thanks Joy!

MM said...

seriously, how did you melt that chocolate into such beauty?! Check out my blog and see my sad attempt...it made me cry. good job!