Outrageous Dark Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites with Marshmallows & Dark Chocolate Drizzle

The other day I was trolling around Facebook and noticed an update from Susan from She’s Becoming DoughMessTic about needing people to help her out with guest posting.  I figured I’d toss my name in the hat.  The criteria was simple – “something fattening, think butter, or sugar, or just plain ridiculous”.  That was a challenge I figured I could live up to.  After all, I had this brownie concept rolling around in my brain and needed to get it out….and to eat a few in the process.  So I emailed Susan and low and behold she was intrigued by my brownie dream.  So here it is.  My very first guest post in all it’s dark chocolaty, buttery deliciousness.

Outrageous Dark Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites with Marshmallows & Dark Chocolate Drizzle


Ingredients
Brownie Bites
1 cup butter
4 1-ounce squares of baking chocolate
1 tablespoon dark chocolate cocoa, sifted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chunks, such as Nestle’s
1 package miniature marshmallows
cooking spray

Dark Chocolate Drizzle
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
Brownie Bites
1 Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2 Melt butter and baking chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until melted, stirring frequently.  Remove from the heat and add the sifted cocoa powder and sugar and mix well.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well with a whisk after each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt & chocolate chunks and stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.  Do not overmix.
3 Using a 1 teaspoon hinged scoop, fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the center springs back when touched.
4 Remove from oven and place 4 miniature marshmallows on each brownie bite.  Return to the oven for another 3 minutes, or until the marshmallows puff up.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Dark Chocolate Drizzle
1 In a small bowl add the powdered sugar and dark cocoa powder and mix with a whisk to combine.  Set aside.
2 In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Remove from heat and add the sugar mixture, alternating with the milk.  Mix well and add the vanilla.  Drizzle over the cooled brownie bites.

Long time, no post!  Since getting back from my Glampin weekend, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I say that a lot, don’t I?  Anyway, I finally got the staircase & hallway walls and ceiling painted.  PHEW…that was a looooooooooong project.  If you ever buy an old house with wallpaper…..be prepared.  After ripping it off, I found the “sins of the past”.  If you watch CSI, then NO, it wasn’t that bad.  Each corner was cracked pretty severely with plaster missing and the Hubs had to rebuild an entire corner floor to ceiling as once the wallpaper came off….it was raining plaster.  Not good.  Anyway, it’s done and looks fabulous.  Now on to trim work.  Lots and lots and lots of trim work.  The end result is going to be phenomenal though.  So light and bright.  I can’t wait.  Bye bye GREY – Hello Sandy Beaches.  🙂

Ok, on to the recipe.  This is my go to recipe when I need a quick dinner that’s relatively healthy.  The chicken stock reduction makes this dish.  It’s so rich and tasty that you forget you didn’t add a carton of cream.  You can use this recipe as a base as well and toss in some fresh kale or spinach to “green it up” a bit. It’s very versatile and so easy to make.

Enjoy!

Farfalle with Bacon & Chicken Stock Reduction
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Ingredients
1 quart chicken stock (homemade or canned)
1 lb farfalle (bow tie pasta)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb thick sliced bacon, cut into small pieces
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp lemon zest, grated
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
1 In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil over high heat.  Boil for 20 minutes or until it has reduced down to 1 cup.
2 Boil the farfalle in salted water, until al dente, about 8-10 minutes
3 While the pasta is boiling, in a large skillet add the olive oil and bacon and cook until crisp but not burned, about 7 minutes.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel set over a plate.  Set aside.  Remove all bacon fat except 2 tablespoons.  Add the garlic to the skillet and cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes.  Don’t let the garlic burn.  Add the farfalle, stock, zest and bacon to the frying pan and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese and serve.

Well it’s happened.  I didn’t think it would, but it did.  I was asked by sweet Elaine Tolson of Tinker Verve to come to her farm and cook up a country picnic for her next retreat.  This will be my first shot at catering, and Elaine is sweet enough to give me a chance.  I know I won’t fail her.

Her event is going to take place on her farm near Chewelah, WA and will include a full day of laughing, friends and glitter.  Ummm, how can you say “NO” to those 3 combined?  Sounds like the trifecta of awesome girliness.  If you live in the Eastern WA area and are interested in attending, I’d give Elaine a call quickly as she’s going to be passing out the above flyer at The Farm Chicks Show this weekend.  Insert a bagillion girls who love to glitter and I’m guessing the day will be booked lickity split!  I’m really looking forward to a super fun day in the warm summer sun making really great food.  Come join me.

Who doesn’t love gelatin?  Ok, I know there are a few of you, but for the most part, you can’t go wrong with fruity, giggly, gelatin.  Now add in some vodka and ground up lemon head candies and you have yourself a cocktail in a cup!  Because I’m heading out “glampin” this weekend and because I love my girls, I thought I’d make a libation that traveled well, won’t slosh or spill and is easy to consume.  I bought plastic shot cups at the dollar store and filled them up with this lemony lusciousness.  The bad thing?  Stopping after a couple.  🙂  If you’re having a party, you should give these a try.  Heck, even if you’re not having a party, you will be once you have a few of these.

Lemon Drop Martini Jelly Shots
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Ingredients
2- 3 oz boxes lemon flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 cup lemon flavored vodka (Citron)
1 small box of lemon head candies
40 mini shot glasses

Instructions
1 Pulverize the lemon head candies using a blender or food processor until you have a sandy texture. 
2 Empty the gelatin into a large bowl.  Bring water to a boil.
3 Pour the boiling water into the gelatin and stir constantly to combine.  Let mixture cool for about 5-6 minutes.
4 Add the vodka to the gelatin mixture and stir to combine.  Pour into plastic shot cups or into a mini muffin pan. Refrigerate until firm.

Note: Please eat responsibly and never ever operate heavy machinery while eating jelly shots.  You might drop the jiggly goodness.  This has been a public service announcement.