twice as nice chocolate brownies

Whenever we rally up our friends and have a dinner party or get together, it wouldn't be the same without me baking up some yummy treats. This weekend I decided to try my hand at brownies from scratch. Yep no box needed just lots of chocolate. I might even be bold enough to say that they were easier than the box versions. Try it for yourself!

Ingredients:

2 cups chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup butter cut into pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cup all- purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking pan. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla and baking soda. Stir in remaining chocolate chips and nuts. Spread into baking pan. Bake 18-22 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Happy baking friends! 

inside out caramel apples

There is something so appealing about eating caramel apples as the seasons change. With the weather in flux and certain fruits not in season, apples are regularly available and especially tasty during this time of year. When I see rather large size apples, the first thing that comes to mind is making caramel apples which I'm sure can be messy. Surprisingly, I have never really made them on my own, ergo trying a different version didn't turn out the way I planned (I used store bought caramels and melted them down, couldn't cut the apples after the caramel hardened). Although I think these inside out caramel apples are the best idea because there is never enough caramel on those apples, let's be honest. 

wonka-like chocolate cups

Over the weekend I found myself glued to the TV once I found a pastry chef challenge show where they had to recreate their version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. You know the uber famous scene where all the kids come in and everything is edible! From the huge gummi bears to the chocolate waterfall and the tulip cups. That scene (and movie, really) is basically every kids dream and I had to see what the teams had created. One of my favorite ideas that I saw one team make were chocolate cups. They used small balloons dipped in chocolate and chilled to make the cup. GENIUS! Add ice cream or whatever you choose and you have an entirely edible sweet treat. 

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