Brownie Kick

Best Brownies from allrecipes.com

I’ve been on a brownie kick lately. It started a few weeks ago when I had a major craving for chocolate. Halloween candy would not suffice. I needed something rich, fudgy and homemade. Brownies were the answer. I decided to try one of the top-rated brownie recipes on allrecipes.com. Surprisingly, despite making and reviewing well over 600 recipes on that site, I hadn’t made Best Brownies yet. I’ve been missing out all this time! They are great brownies. My all-time favorite brownies are still Fudge Brownies from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. However, there are times when I don’t have squares of unsweetened chocolate on hand. I always have cocoa powder in my pantry, so Best Brownies will be my go-to in case all I have is the powder.

Glazed Mint Brownies with too much mint filling

I was so sad when all the brownies were gone, I decided I must make more. Glazed Mint Brownies sounded like just the thing to make next. I still had a package of Nestle Mint & Chocolate Chips from last Christmas. They looked a litte over the hill, but tasted fine, so I threw them in. I doubled the mint filling, but I think that was a mistake. It messed with the chocolate-mint balance – too much mint. I think these would be fun to make during the holidays. I would make the mint filling pink and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.

So the mint brownies were gone and I was sad yet again. I had half a package of butterscotch chips in the pantry, why, I don’t know, but I wanted to use them because I was tired of seeing them sitting all dejected next to the shiny, new, unopened packages of chips. The result was a new recipe inspiration: Butterscotch Chip Brownies with Cocoa Caramel Frosting. I’m a little obsessed with caramel coffee creamer (if you couldn’t tell) and just keep coming up with new uses for it! I took inspiration from the Best Brownies recipe. I reduced the sugar (I’ve found that you can reduce the sugar by a quarter in most recipes and still have it taste great) and tweaked the frosting. Here is my new recipe.

Butterscotch Chip Brownies with Cocoa Caramel Frosting
(This is not a low-FODMAP recipe)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over low heat. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in butterscotch chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
4. To Make Frosting: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder, honey, coffee creamer, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Frost brownies while still warm.