Sinfully Easy Caramel Nut Brownies

 

    I made these brownies for work this week and they were a HIT! I had one co-worker (who is not gf) ask for the recipe and tell me these brownies were "better than sex". I'd call that a successful recipe!! I hope you enjoy them too!

 

Sinfully Easy Caramel Nut Brownies

1 box of your favorite gf brownie mix (follow the directions on how to mix it up)

1 2oz package of chopped pecans

1 11oz Bag of Kraft Caramel Bits (or you can buy the caramels you have to unwrap as well, these are just faster!)

1 to 1 ½ C. Milk Chocolate Chips

Pour 2/3 of brownie batter into your 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Spread the caramel bits evenly over the batter, then the nuts, and chocolate chips. Top with the remaining 1/3 of the batter. Bake according to the package instructions. You can top with a little melted frosting or melted chocolate chips or melted caramel to make them look nice.

 

Your favorite gf brownie mix and a few simple ingredients make this amazing!!

Mix your favorite gf mix according to the directions on the box. I used a Heartland Gourmet Brownie Mix.

Place 2/3 of the batter into the pan, top with caramel, nuts, and chocolate chips. Top with remaining batter and bake according to box directions.

Look at that ooey gooey amazingness!! SO GOOD!

 Top with melted chocolate or melted frosting and/or caramel to finish off the sinfulness! Enjoy!!

 

-Jessica

 

 

 

Butterscotch Blondies

     I had run across a recipe for blondies on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago. I pinned it and figured I would save it for another day. Well today became that day. I went for a long walk and came home craving those blondies.
     I, of course, couldn't deny the need for blondies, so into the kitchen I went to whip them up. They were super easy to make and the end result was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!! These are golden bars of heaven. Mmmmmm!
     I do want to put a little disclaimer out there before I give you the recipe. Please be VERY careful when buying the butterscotch chips. Many of the name brand chips are NOT gluten free. So please read labels carefully and call companies to verify that the chips you buy are safe.

Butterscotch Blondies
    
2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup (10 2/3 tbsp) butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups gluten free flour mix
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups butterscotch baking chips (be sure to verify they are gf)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 in. pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Add in the brown sugar and stir. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and cool almost completely.

Stir in the eggs one at a time (be sure the mixture is cool or your eggs will cook). Stir in the vanilla. Add flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and baking soda mix well. Pour the mixture into the 9x13 pan. Sprinkle butterscotch chips and nuts over the top of the batter. Bake at 350 deg. for 25-30 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly. Cut the bars while warm, best served slightly warm.

Melt the butter and brown sugar into the sauce pan.

In the same pot stir in the xanthan gum, flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Double check your butterscotch chips to be sure that they are gluten free. Not ALL brands are.

Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the chips and nuts (if you want nuts, I didn't use them) onto the top of the batter. Bake at 350 deg. for 25-30 min.

    I hope you enjoy the blondies. They are amazing!! Enjoy!

-Jessica

Healthy Fudgy Brownies...........isn't that an oxymoron?

Sometimes craving chocolate is serious business. Today was one of those days. I decided that I would make brownies. I also decided to give a new recipe a whirl. I did a google search for gluten free brownies and came up with a recipe that sounded "healthy". It included two different kinds of fruit!!!
      I am not sure fruit belongs in brownies, but I thought I would give it a try. I have been trying to eat more fruit and if you can get it in a brownie then I'm all for it!!
     Of course I had to tweak their recipe........I'm not one for following the recipe ha
Here is the link to the original recipe that I found in my google search: Emeril's Gluten Free- Dairy Free Brownies and now on to the recipe that it morphed into. (mine is not dairy free though, sorry folks)

"Healthy" Fudgy Brownies

 cooking spray
1 ¼ cups applesauce
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 mashed banana
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/2 tsp xantham gum
2 cups Milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 deg.  Generously spray a 8x8 pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl peel and mash banana (if it doesn't mash easily you can microwave it for about 30 seconds to get it smooshey). Combine all of the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Pour the mixture into the 8x8 pan. Bake for 45-50 min. or until toothpick in the middle comes out mostly clean (remember these are fudgy brownies).

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Ok, so this was a new recipe for me. It wasn't too bad. It was moist and gooey. I could taste the banana just a little. I think that next time I would leave the banana out of the recipe. I don't think it really serves a purpose. I like cooking with applesauce instead of lots of oil so I would leave that in. I think that applesauce also adds moisture to our sometimes very dry baked goods.

Overall this is a pretty good recipe, would be better minus the banana. So I would give it another shot sometime. It cured my chocolate craving for sure!!