Tag Archives: brown sugar

Praline Fudge Brownies

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Ruthanne

A dense brownie covered in creamy praline filling and topped with chocolate fudge and pecans. This will satisfy the most demanding sweet tooth!!!!

I adore pralines. Especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas when anything with pecans is somehow better. Some people say they are just too sweet- and this filling is no exception! Paired with this not-too-sweet brownie, I think it is perfect though. These got rave reviews and several people exclaimed, “These taste like Christmas!”

So let’s make these yummy little treats! (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:

1cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Praline Filling:

1 cup whipping cream
12 Tablespoons of butter
3 cups of brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans (divided)
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoon of vanilla

Fudge Topping:

12oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine here!)

DIRECTIONS:

Brownie:

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
Spread evenly in greased jelly roll pan (12 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1″).
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until done in center and just starting to pull away from sides.
Cool.

Praline filling:

In a large saucepan, mix cream, butter and brown sugar.
Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture comes to a boil.
Cook for one minute, stirring constantly and then remove from heat.
Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 cup of pecans (you may need to do this in a separate bowl if your saucepan isn’t big enough)
Cool for 5 minutes, stirring often until it thickens up a bit.
Spoon mixture over cooled brownies and spread into a smooth layer over the top.

Fudge Topping:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Pour over praline filling and spread evenly over top.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of chopped pecans.
Chill until top layer is hard and cut into bars.

My thoughts: These aren’t hard to put together and they are oh-so-yummy!!! I froze about half of the batch in an air-tight container for several weeks and just pulled them out for a party I was having- they freeze GREAT. In fact, they are pretty yummy frozen. 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try these and enjoy them as much as I did!

Other yummy Christmas desserts: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Pecan Praline Cupcakes

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Ruthanne

If you love pralines, you will love these pecan praline cupcakes with delicious homemade pralines on top!

Two desserts in one!

I’m a huge fan of pecan pralines. Our family has often traveled to the southeast part of the US and there’s just nothing better than a still-warm praline in Charleston or Savannah… YUM! I’ve always wanted to try making homemade pralines, but I’ve never had a good recipe. Last month, we visited family friends, Dave and MaryAnne, and Dave told us he has the BEST pecan praline recipe. He whipped some up for us and oh my…. He shared his recipe and I had the idea to carry some of those flavors over into cupcakes.

Really, these two desserts stand alone, but are especially fun together!

Let’s start with those pralines (printable recipe):

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups of sugar
1 1/4 cups of hot water
1 1/4 cups of chopped pecans
24-36 pecan halves
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of maple extract

DIRECTIONS:

Use oil or butter to coat a mini muffin tin well.
Place all ingredients (except the whole pecans) into a large saucepan and heat over stove, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 234F degrees.
Remove from heat and stir for 5-8 minutes until the candy loses it’s glossy look and gets more cloudy and granular.
Spoon (carefully!!!) into well- greased muffin tin.
Press a pecan half into the top of each praline and allow to cool.
When cooled, tip onto clean surface and ENJOY!

Now for those cupcakes…..! (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoons of vanilla
2 teaspoons of maple flavoring
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup of chopped pecans (as desired)

Praline Buttercream frosting:

1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 sticks (one cup) butter
5 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS: (start the frosting first, as it needs to cool before beating)

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with 24-30 cupcake liners
In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs once at a time until incorporated and then mix in vanilla and maple flavoring.
In a different large bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add flour mixture to the sugar and butter, alternating with the cream.
Stir in pecans.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 min. Be careful to not over-bake.
Cool in pan for a few minutes before removing to finish cooling on the counter.

Frosting:

In a small sauce pan, heat brown sugar, cream and 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, stirring often, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat together the cooled brown sugar mixture with remaining butter until smooth.
Add powdered sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy.
Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorator’s tip, and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
Top with a praline- or even a pecan half instead.
Enjoy!!

My thoughts: These are perfectly wonderful together in one beautiful dessert, or they can be made as individual recipes. Either way, if you love pecan pralines, you will love these yummy treats! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun cupcake recipes from Easybaked (click on the photo to see the recipe):

6 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged best, brown sugar, brownsugar frosting, cupcakes, dessert, fun cupcakes, pecan cupcakes, pecan praline cupcakes, pecan pralines, pecans, praline frosting, pralines, recipe, sweet, unique cupcakes. Bookmark the permalink.

Cinnamon Upside Down Cakes

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Ruthanne

These little mini cinnamon cakes are the perfect make-ahead treat. Perfect as dessert and such a sweet and yummy breakfast! Dripping with sweet glaze, these will be a new family favorite, and the best part? They use a cake mix and they are SO easy!!!

Ready to make these fun little cakes? Click here for the printable recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups brown sugar (packed)
½ cup butter (melted)
2 tablespoons cinnamon
36 pecan halves (optional)
One boxed yellow cake mix
Water, oil and eggs to make mix according to box
1 cup of powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons of milk
½ teaspoon of vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Spray two muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray
Place brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter into a small bowl and mix until well combined.
Spoon sugar mixture evenly into all 24 cups of the muffin tins.
Use a mini tart shaper or a wooden spoon to press sugar mixture flat into the bottom of each cup.
Place 3 pecans on top of sugar.
Make cake mix according to box instructions.
Scoop batter over the top of sugar and pecans. Fill each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350F degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Remove from oven and quickly run a small knife around the edge of each cup.
Using oven mitts, place a wire cake rack on top of the muffin tin and flip the pan and rack over so that cakes are upside down on the rack.
Gently lift the muffin tin up and allow the cakes to pop out. Some sugar will remain in the bottom of each cup, which is fine.
While cakes cool, make a glaze by mixing milk, vanilla and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Add extra milk or powdered sugar to make glaze a thick frosting consistency- not very runny.
Spoon glaze into a small zip-top bag and seal the top.
Clip a corner of the bag and drizzle glaze over the tops of each little cake.
ENJOY!

My thoughts: These are really easy little treats and they are gobbled up fast! I’ve made them twice now and everyone asks for the recipe. I made my second batch without the pecans on half of them. They were still wonderful and make this recipe yummy for even people who don’t like or can’t have nuts. Keep them covered up and they last a few days- a perfect make-ahead Christmas morning treat!

Other yummy ideas from easybaked:

10 Comments

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Easy recipes and tagged baking, best, breakfast, brown sugar, cake mix, christmas, cinnamon, dessert, easy, family, glaze, holidays, pecans, powdered sugar, recipe, upside down cake, yellow cake, yellow cake mix. Bookmark the permalink.

Cookie Dough Whoopie Pies

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Ruthanne

Rich cocoa whoopie pies filled with a creamy cookie dough frosting. Yum.

One of the benefits of being a food blogger is that all of your friends see cool kitchen stuff and get it for you! My sweet friend Danielle gave me a Whoopie Pie Pan for my birthday and I had to google what a whoopie pie was because I’d never had one. Now, I am obsessed with this incredible dessert. Oh. My. Word.

A few months ago I made a cupcake that is my FAVORITE recipe on this blog (yes, I have a favorite!) It’s a cookie dough cupcake and I so wanted an excuse to make that frosting again, so I made it for these! Perfect! Everyone loves them….and I am eating the leftover frosting out of a bowl while I write this post…really– right out of the bowl {sigh of pure joy}

You know you want to try these….here’s how: (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 16-18 whoopie pies)

Whoopie Pie:

2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Cookie Dough Filling:

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter(softened)
2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter(softened)
2 cups powered sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
3 Tablespoons vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1 12 oz bag of mini chocolate chips.

Directions:

Whoopie Pie:

This recipe can be made on a cookie sheet, but to get that perfectly shaped, every-one-is-the-same-size look you really should invest in a Whoopie Pie Pan. They aren’t terribly expensive and these turn out SO much better if you use one!

Preheat oven to 400F degrees
Spray a whoopie pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Use a mixer to cream together butter and sugar.
Add milk, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add dry ingredients (add flour last and gradually) and beat until smooth. (My mixer had a hard time with this, as it is a thick cookie-like mixture. My mixer is 15 years old though and died the next day….so …? I finished mixing by hand…)
Use a large Cookie Scoop (2-3 Tablespoons) to drop dough into each whoopie pie cavity. Gently press dough into cavity.

Bake for 8-10 minutes- don’t overbake- cake should be springy to the touch, not hard like a cookie.
Cool on a wire rack.

Filling:

Place all filling ingredients except mini chips into a large mixing bowl and beat with mixer on low until combined and then high until light and fluffy.
Add half of mini chips and blend in well.
Scoop about 2 Tablespoons of filling onto one half of a whoopie pie.
Press the other half on top very gently until filling spreads to edges.
Pour remaining mini chips into a bowl and roll edges of filling in them to coat the sides.

My thoughts: These are just exactly right, in my book. I love the deep cocoa flavor in the cake and that FROSTING….!

If you want to reduce the amount of filling you can certainly cut the recipe for it in half. I was very generous with the filling and had just a little left at the end. I hope you get a chance to try these– and if you want a similar flavor in smaller bites hop over to the cookie dough cupcake recipe and give them a try. Happy baking, friends!!!