Coconut Chocolate Easter Eggs

I tried something new this year, just for fun. I had some dark chocolate leftover from Christmas and Valentine's, and decided to try making some festive eggs for Easter.

I used my coconut filling recipe, but when it came time to shape them, I formed them into the shape of a flattened egg instead of a ball.  After I dipped them, I drizzled some white chocolate on top.

I think they turned out pretty cute. I put each one in a plastic bag and tied it with a ribbon to give out as gifts.

Here's the easy peasy recipe:

1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
12 large marshmallows
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups macaroon coconut (I use Bob's Red Mill shredded coconut)

Heat syrup, marshmallows, and salt until marshmallows are melted.  Add vanilla and pour over macaroon coconut.  Stir well.  Let stand until cool and stiff enough to roll into balls (or in this case, eggs). Let dry before dipping. 

mini pumpkin muffins

These pumpkin mini-muffins are perfect for fall mornings. Make a bunch and freeze them! 

These are not healthy muffins, but they are delicious muffins. My friend Erica brought these muffins to us once and my daughter said "wow, mom, I wish you could bake like Valerie's mom."  Yup. 

These make great mini muffins. Actually, they are more like mini baked doughnuts.  Also, this recipe makes a lot.  Here is Erica's recipe, shared without permission, but she probably won't mind:

Mix in bowl:

1 cup oil (or applesauce)

3 cups sugar (yikes. I told you they weren't healthy)

3 eggs

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla

Add:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

Mix until combined. Spray mini muffin tins or use paper liners.  Fill tins 2/3 way, sprinkle top of muffins with cinnamon sugar mixture. 

Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.  

Mmmmmmm.   

Here are some other favorite pumpkin recipes to enjoy this fall:

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies

Last year when we had a slew of tornadoes rip through eastern Kentucky, my daughter Maren wanted to do a charity bake sale to help raise funds for the victims.  People were very supportive and she had a great experience.  When she heard about the tornado in Oklahoma, she wanted to do it again.  Since she was busy finishing up the last week of school and attending play rehearsals, she partnered with her brothers who did most of the baking (heavily supervised of course).  They again had a great experience thanks to friends and strangers who supported their efforts.  

We made lemon cupcakes, rice krispy treats with m&ms, fruity pebble treats, mint chocolate brownies, and giant oatmeal chocolate chip m&m cookies for the bake sale.  (side note: Nathan always called it a bakery sale, and I just thought that was so cute.)  We had never tried large cookies before and they turned out really well so I thought I'd share the recipe we used.  Of course, you can also do normal size cookies, but giant cookies are so much more fun. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip m&m Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups rolled oats

2 cups chocolate chips

bag of mini m&ms


Cream together butter, shortening, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Then stir in chocolate chips.  Normal size cookies: Using a cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Cover the scoop with mini m&ms.  Put them as close together as you can because they will spread out while baking.  Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

For Double Size cookies: before adding m&ms, combine 2 of the scoops into a ball and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Flatten cookie a bit into a circle.  Cover top with mini m&ms.  Bake in 325 degree oven for 19-21 minutes.  (For my oven, 19 minutes was about perfect, but ovens are different, so you may need to just experiment.) The recipe made 21 giant cookies for us. 

Next time we will have to try triple size cookies.  Mmmmmmmm.  

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes (and more evidence of my coolness)

I couldn't decide if the title should say my nerdiness, dorkiness, or goofiness.  Then I just decided I was really cool and those other people who don't put together themed parties for premieres of tv shows clearly aren't.

Have you ever watched the show "Psych"?  Well I've been a fan since season 1.  It's a perfect mix of goofiness and ridiculousness.  It just makes me laugh.  We don't have the tv on a lot around here, but this is one show Jason and I love to watch.  In fact, a couple of Valentine's Days ago, he bought me a "Psych" cover for my iphone.  That guy sure loves me.  I had that cover on my phone for 8 months before anyone said anything about it, and that's how we discovered some friends who also love Psych.  (as a side note, the second person who said anything about it was a 4th grader in my daughter's class.  So, ya know, fans of all ages and such.)

One quirky fact you might not know about the show is that there is a hidden pineapple in each episode. It may be a reference to a pineapple food, pineapple decorations somewhere on the set, or an actual pineapple.  So when my husband invited our Psych friends over for a season 7 premiere party, I knew we needed some pineapple food.

In season 2 episode 3 (and yes, I looked that up) Shawn makes a pineapple upside down cake in an easy bake oven.  Jason and I thought those would be the perfect thing for our tv watching, but I used a real oven so it wasn't quite authentic.

"Are you a fan of delicious flavor?"

This is how I made my pineapple upside down cupcakes:

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray

2. Mix 4 Tbls. of melted butter with 2/3 cup brown sugar. Sprinkle a bit in the bottom of the muffin tin.

3. Add a small bit of pineapple on top of the brown sugar mixture.  I used fresh pineapple, but canned would work also.

4.  Choose your favorite yellow cake mix (or make one from scratch if you're fancy like that) but substitute an equal amount pineapple juice for the water called for.

5. Pour batter into muffin tins.

6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  cool 10 minutes in the pan, then flip out onto cooling rack.

Easy peasy.  My kids only liked them after they picked off the pineapple.  Crazy kids.

Other food at our Psych party included pineapple Jelly Bellys, dried pineapple, pineapple soda, Synder's pretzels, and my friend made fries quatro queso dos fritos, which was totally awesome of her, since Jason really wanted to try and make them and I didn't want to go near that mess.

And yes, I did add lettering to my green vase when I noticed it was almost Psych color green.  And you can stop laughing at me now.  And let me know if you want in on next year's season premiere party!!

Coconut Candy

I hear these are really tasty.  I've never actually tried them myself, since I don't like the texture of coconut, but I make them every year because other people like them.  Plus they are really easy to make.

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
12 large marshmallows
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups macaroon coconut

The coconut I use is Bob's Red Mill shredded coconut, not the wet stuff you buy at most grocery stores.  I found mine at Whole Foods.  Also, I usually double this recipe and it uses pretty much exactly a whole bag of that coconut.

Heat syrup, marshmallows, and salt until marshmallows are melted.  Add vanilla and pour over macaroon coconut.  Stir well.  Let stand until cool and stiff enough to roll into balls. (I usually keep a wet rag close by to slightly moisten my fingertips as I'm forming the balls, as the dampness helps the sticky stuff not stick to my fingers.)   Flatten slightly and let dry before dipping. A half or whole roasted almond can be pressed into the top of the center.  I dip mine in real chocolate that I have tempered, but you can alternatively use the bark.

undipped

dipped

I hear it's good stuff.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we are getting ready to make our favorite things, one of which is this delicious pie.  It's pumpkiny and spicy but not dense like most pumpkin pies.  

First you will need a baked pie crust. This is the recipe I use - it's nothing fancy but it works.  

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening

6 to 7 tbls. cold water

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (completely optional, but I just like cinnamon in the crust sometimes)

Stir together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening until pieces are small peas.  Sprinkle 1 tbls. of water over part of the mixture; gently toss with fork and push to side of the bowl.  Repeat until all is moistened. Form into a ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface.  Transfer to pie dish and ease it in.  Trim pastry and do whatever decorative thing you like to the edges.  Prick sides and bottom of pastry generously with the tines of a fork.  Prick where bottom and sides meet all around the pie shell.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.  Cool on a wire rack.  

I opted for the natural look around the edges.
(fine, I was just too lazy to do anything fancy) 

For the filling, follow this recipe:

Combine the following in a saucepan and cook over medium heat:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 1/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

3 egg yolks (make sure you keep the 2 of the egg whites in a separate bowl!)

Stir constantly until it boils and the gelatin is all dissolved. Let cool.

Whip 2 egg whites until peaks form.  Add 1/2 cup sugar towards the end to make the meringue.  

Whip 1/2 cup cream.  

Fold meringue and whipped cream in to the pumpkin mixture.  Pour into already baked pie crust and put in the fridge to chill.

Serve with whipped cream.  

mmmmm, pie

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Mmmmmm.  This pumpkin bread smells so good when baking, and tastes so delicious when tasting.

Here is the recipe, in case you want some fall deliciousness in your house too:

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup water
2 cups mashed pumpkin (I just use a 15 oz. can of pumpkin and it works)
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Throw everything into the mixer and mix it up.  Pour in 2 large loaf pans, or 3 regular loaf pans, or 8 mini loaf pans, or whatever.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Smell. Eat. Enjoy. Savor.  etc . . .

favorite cornbread recipe

Where does the time go?  I always have posts in my head waiting to be written, but it doesn't happen.  I figured this would be a quick one I could share though.

This is our favorite cornbread recipe. I got it off some box a long time ago.  I don't even remember where it's from, but we like it a lot.  It's a sweet cornbread, not too crumbly.  It's great with soups on these cooler days.

1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 T.  baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1/3 c. oil
3 T. melted butter

Mix dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls.  Combine and stir just until moistened.  Pour into a greased 8x8 glass dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

I usually double this recipe and bake it in a 9x13 because my kids love it so much.  It's great with honey butter.

Easy and Fun Monster Meals

Occasionally when Jason is not going to be home for dinner, I like to do a "fancy restaurant" with the kids to help pass the time.  Usually I just type up a menu of whatever leftovers and easy things we have to eat in the fridge, put a tablecloth on the table, and use my fancy waiter voice.  But, since it is October, I decided to do a Monster Meal Menu, just to make things more fun.

Originally I had grand plans to make some of the really cute foods I had been seeing around pinterest for Halloween, like the jello worms or edible spider webs, but I just didn't have time to make them before dinner.  So, I just used what I had and gave things spooky names to make it fun.

I told the kids they had to pretend they were monsters going out to dinner.  I used my fancy monster restaurant voice, and took their orders.  I refused to tell them what each item was, even though last Christmas I had broken down and told them when we did something similar.  This time I just wasn't going to do it.  They had to just guess.  Here is what I had on the menu, with what they are in parentheses.

Maren's order

Main Dish (all meals served with Witch's Brew and Fingers)(colored ginger ale and breadsticks)

Dragon’s eyeballs, tongue, and crackers (mini babybel cheese, ham, crackers)

Mummy (english muffin pizza)

Rat tails with ketchup (thinly sliced hot dogs)

Fruit and Veggies (choose 2 or 3)

Rat Droppings (raisins)

Ghost (banana)

Witch Warts (grapes)

Blood Blisters (grape tomatoes)(you could serve this with "pus", aka Ranch Dressing. Ha! That's gross.)

Chunks of Zombie Hearts (chunks of watermelon)

Dessert

Witch hat (hershey kiss on a cookie)

skeleton bones (mini marshmallows at the end of pretzel sticks)

ghost poop (mini marshmallows)

The kids ordered and then ran outside to play while I got their plates ready.  The plates were very easy to assemble. Most things required no preparation, just imagination. 

To make dragons eyes, I used Betty Crocker food coloring pens on those cute little babybel cheeses (although the food coloring didn't soak in very well, so I would recommend dabbing it with a paper towel to avoid messy hands). I also used the food coloring pens to put a face on the ghost banana.

To make the fingers, I shaped pillsbury breadstick dough before baking, and after it had cooled off a bit after baking I pushed a candy corn into the tip for a fingernail. 

 For the Witch's Brew, I put a few drops of food coloring at the bottom of each glass, then covered it with ice. I kept the glasses on the counter by me so they couldn't look too closely.  I told the kids they could have water or ginger ale (Christopher won't drink anything but water) and they were surprised to see the ginger ale magically change color when it was poured into the glass.  I think that may have been their favorite part of the meal, actually.  They wanted to try the trick on daddy when he got home later.

To make the mummy pizza, I toasted an english muffin, then spread some pizza sauce on top and layered on strips of string cheese. Sliced olives made the eyes. I broiled it to melt the cheese and then it was done. It only took about 5 minutes to make. 

For desserts, I made witch's hats with an upside down fudge striped cookie, a hershey kiss, and a bit of frosting I had leftover from another dessert. 

The kids had fun eating like monsters and asking for more "warts" and "zombie hearts". 

This was a good reminder to me that my kids like simple things just fine.  I had wanted to do a lot more with decorating the table spooky or having candles, but just didn't have the energy or time for it, and had considered not doing anything since I couldn't do everything I had imagined, but the kids didn't miss it. They enjoyed it and thought it was fun even without all the extras.  

It just goes to show that all kids really need to have fun is a bit of imagination to turn regular items into something special! That's good for me to remember.

Summer Slush

yummy 

Every year my mom would make this slush for summer eating.  She would freeze it in large pans and we would just take chunks out with a fork when we wanted some (when we were older, not little kids of course) and pour lemon-lime soda over it.  And if you let it sit for a little bit, and get just the right ratio of soda to slush, it will mix up into a delicious slushy treat.  Mmmmmmm.  It reminds me of home whenever I eat it.

And just as a side note, if ever all of your grown up kids but one are visiting back home, but the last one can't come because she's stuck in Kentucky, and you're having dinner together, eating some of her favorite food (perhaps grilled salmon and fruit salad) PLUS delicious slush (which just might be what puts her over the edge), and she happens to call during dinner, don't tell her what you're eating all together and what she's missing out on, because she might feel really homesick and cry the rest of the night and remember it for a long time.  Hypothetically.

Recipe for Summer Slush:

4 cups sugar
6 cups water
Boil 3 minutes and cool

Add:
1 large concentrated orange juice
Juice of 3 lemons
48 oz. pineapple juice
5 mashed ripe bananas

Mix and freeze

I usually put the bananas in the blender with a bit of pineapple juice and blend it smooth before adding it to the other ingredients.  When the slush is all mixed, pour it into two 9x13 pans (or more) and put in the freezer to freeze.   I used to just add orange juice, because the recipe my mom gave me just says 1 large orange juice, but I learned recently that what she meant was 1 large container of frozen orange juice concentrate thawed.  I thought my sister was crazy when she was making the slush last weekend with concentrate, but she turned out to be right.  Weird.

To serve, just use a fork to get small chunks of slush, put them in a glass, and pour lemon-lime soda over the top.  I usually have a straw and a fork in my cup to drink and eat at the same time.

Joshua asked me for a glass of slush yesterday, and I gave him some.  He then quickly drank all the soda and left the slush in the cup.  I told him that next time he could just ask for soda if he didn't want the slush and that seemed like a crazy new idea to him.  Silly boy.  So I guess not everyone likes slush as much as I do.

Favorite Spring Treat

Each spring, my kids ask to make these birds' nests as a treat.  They are really easy to make, so the kids can help a lot, and they are pretty cute (the kids and the treats).  They love taking them to friends and eating them too.

For the Rice Krispie treats, we use the traditional recipe on the side of the package:

3 Tbsp. butter
4 cups mini marshmallows or 40 big marshmallows
6 cups cereal (We used cocoa krispies, because they're brown.)

To get ready, spray with nonstick cooking spray some muffin tins and a large bowl.  Measure the cereal into the bowl (I used more than 6 cups cereal.  I used a whole 16.5 oz. package.  I'm not sure how many cups that is.  9? 10?).   Melt the butter and marshmallows over low heat until just a few lumps remain.  If you cook the marshmallows too long the treats will turn out hard instead of gooey, so don't overheat. Pour marshmallows into the bowl full of cereal and mix up. Next, wet your hands slightly (I keep a wet towel handy to help keep my hands damp) and pick up a handful of the mixture.  Press it into the muffin tin, pressing down in the middle and up on the sides to make the shape of the nests. Keep doing that until all the treat is used up.  Add a few bird eggs while the treats are still gooey.  We used the Whopper Robins' Eggs, but jelly beans work well too.  Once they've cooled, use a fork to help pop the nests out.  Add a Peeps mother bird on top and they're ready to go.  This recipe made 29 birds' nests for us.

I love this little goofball

Chocolates

Every Christmas growing up that I can remember, my mom would make delicious homemade chocolates. She would make the centers, temper the chocolate, hand dip the centers, put them in little paper cups, and package them in nice white boxes tied with a gold ribbon. We always got to eat leftovers from the "reject" plate - chocolates that weren't quite pretty enough to give away. If there was any chocolate left over, she would make molded chocolate lollipops for Valentines.

Now it's my turn to be in charge of chocolate making. It's not the healthiest skill to know, but I enjoy making things that I can give away as a nice gift and make other people smile.

I've had a few people ask about how I make the centers so I thought I'd share the recipes I use. I dip the centers in Guittard chocolate which needs to be tempered. A few years ago my mom bought me a chocolate tempering machine for christmas, which makes it a lot easier to dip the chocolates. If you don't want to invest in a temperer, or hand temper chocolate, you can just use candy melts or chocolate bark.

Chocolate truffles

1 1/4 lb. sweet chocolate (about 4 cup finely chopped chocolate)
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 T. butter

Melt chocolate over low heat (double boiler). Cool slightly. Heat butter and cream to 140 degrees. Cool to 120 degrees. Stir cream and butter into the chocolate. Beat with mixer until it is pudding consistency. Let chocolate rest for one minute. Beat again for a minute or until chocolate goes about one shade lighter. Can be flavored if desired at this point. Pour into Saran-Wrap lined square pan. Refrigerate. Cut into squares and dip while still cold.

(I usually add peppermint extract and then dip them in dark chocolate. Really Really good. I also tried raspberry extract this valentines day and those were yummy too. But I still like the peppermint better.)

Cream Fondant

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup white karo syrup
4 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Place liquids in heavy 6-8 qt. saucepan and add sugar and salt. Stir and bring to quick boil. (After boil, cover pan briefly (30 seconds) to steam crystals from sides of pan.) After you take off the lid, clip on candy thermometer. Do not stir from this time on. (for reason why see here) Cook to 238 degrees, or softball stage. Remove from heat and pour, without scraping pan, onto a marble slab. (what! You don't have a marble slab? I hear you can also use a shallow pan, but I've never tried it) Cool until you can flick the candy with your finger and the candy takes 10 seconds to fill in the space. Add 2/3 cup marshmallow cream (you can also add flavoring and food coloring at this time if you want it all to be the same flavor) and beat until candy begins to lose its gloss - about 10 min. Let rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Continue beating until candy stiffens and completely loses its gloss. Put in container until you're ready to roll it into balls and dip. If you want different flavors, you can divide it and knead in the flavoring at a later date. It gets pretty sticky if you overwork it though. I usually do orange, lemon, and mint fondant, and tried raspberry this valentines day (as pictured). It was good.

The fondant is a bit tricky, especially if you haven't seen someone beat candy before. It's kind of the same process as fudge, with the crystalizing at the right moment. You can read about the science of it all here. Sometimes the fondant won't "turn" for me, and I use my hair dryer to heat it back up and then I try beating it again. It can be frustrating.

When I'm getting ready to dip the fondant, I spray my hands with Pam spray and roll bits into balls. I let them sit a bit to harden slightly on the outside so they're easier to dip.

I also use this recipe to make fudge, just adding some chocolate with the other ingredients.

Butter Caramels

1 cube unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream (split)
1 3/4 cups light Karo syrup
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring all ingredients except 1 cup cream to a boil in heavy saucepan. Add withheld cream a little at a time without reducing the boil. Cover briefly (count 30) to steam crystals from sides of pan. Cook without stirring (same reason as fudge) to 242 degrees or firm soft ball stage. Pour into Pam-sprayed or buttered 9x13 glass pan and cool. Cut into squares when cool, or, while still warm, spoon over chopped pecans for turtles.

I have found that, for me, cooking to about 236 degrees makes the caramel how I like it. The temperature you cook it to will depend on where you live and the weather. Candy stores usually keep track of each batch of candy - what the weather was like at the time of cooking, what temperature it was cooked to, and how it turned out.

If you want to come make candy sometime, just let me know!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pancakes

The other day I thought it would be fun to make pumpkin shaped pancakes from a pumpkin pancake recipe I have.  I thought they would enjoy "carving" a face while they ate.  I just scooped out a bit of the already orange batter into a bowl and added some green food coloring.  I thought the kids would think it was so fun.  Instead, Joshua came in and said "the stems on pumpkins are brown, not green mom.  Nice try though."  Then Maren was complaining because she couldn't carve it the way she wanted to, and Christopher refused to eat it at all and threw a huge fit when Jason started to cut it up for him.  Apparently he really liked the pumpkin shape too much to eat it or want it ruined.  So, it didn't exactly work out as I hoped, but here's the recipe if you want to try.  It's from a book called "Kid favorites made healthy" by Better Homes and Gardens.

Peter Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbls. packed brown sugar
1 Tbls. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white
2 Tbls. oil

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Mix wet in seperate bowl.  Then pour wet into dry and mix just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).  Cook over medium heat in skillet or griddle, turning to 2nd side when surface is bubbly and edges are slightly dry.

The book suggests serving with an orange syrup, but we used normal syrup and liked them.  The babynater liked them without any syrup at all.  And they do turn a bit brown if you cook them too long or the griddle is too hot, so they don't look quite as cute.  I burned Joshua's so his stem was nice and brown.  Hwaa, ha, ha, ha.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Here is a recipe for molasses cookies that I really like. It came from my mom, and I don't know where she got it. I made them for a church activity and got some requests for the recipe, so I just thought I'd post it here and force my friends to read my blog (hwaa ha ha)(that's my evil laugh, in case you couldn't tell)

1/2 cup butter + 1/4 cup shortening (that's the combo I like to use. do whatever you like)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour (the recipe I have calls for 2 cups, but I find a little more flour is good.)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in molasses and egg until fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients. Chill. Form into balls (I just use my cookies scoop) and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on parchment paper lined pan at 325 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

Mint Brownies

This is one of my favorite desserts to make and it's super easy, so I thought I'd share in case anyone wanted to have some.

First, I start by making the brownies. I just use the fudge brownie box mix from betty crocker, because it's easy and I like it, but I know some people like to make them from scratch. So, just make your favorite brownies and let them cool.

Second, make peppermint frosting. Here's the recipe I like:

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup crisco

1 Tbls. milk

peppermint extract to taste (2 tsp? about)

4 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbls. meringue powder (optional)

Mix together the butter and crisco well, then add milk and flavorings. I then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, mixing well between each, and also add a little of the meringue powder each time. When all the powdered sugar is mixed in, beat it on high for a while until it's a nice fluffy consistency. Then I add green food coloring. I usually add a bit more milk than if I was frosting a cake so that it will go on the brownies more easily. Also, I find that if I think the peppermint flavoring is too strong then it is probably about right since the chocolate in the brownies makes it less noticeable.

After I spread the frosting on the brownies, I melt some chocolate to spread on top. I fill up my glass measuring cup to the 1 cup line with semi-sweet chocolate chips, add maybe a 1/2 Tbls. of crisco and melt it in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, then 15 and stir, etc . . . until it's nice and smooth. Then I drizzle it on and spread it out with a knife and put it in the fridge. I usually take it out and serve it right out of the fridge. Yummy!