Allison's Recipe Book

Ingredients:
1 pan of your favorite brownies, cooled and cut into desired size and shape (I used a round cutter)
12-16 small strawberries, cleaned and hulled
vanilla-mascarpone buttercream (recipe below)

Vanilla-Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2-1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Method:
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and mascarpone cheese until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract and salt. Add 2-1/2 cups of sugar, half a cup at a time and continue beating until smooth. Add more sugar, if needed to reach desired consistency and sweetness.

To assemble, pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream on top of each brownie. Cut off the base of a strawberry so it is flat and place it upside down on each brownie, pushing slightly to secure in place. Top the tip of the strawberry with a dot of buttercream to finish the santa hat.

Ingredients:

Cookie ingredients:
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3C flour
1/4C unsalted butter, softened
1/3C sugar, plus 1/2C
1 egg
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Apple ingredients:
8C apples (roughly 6-8 apples depending on their size)
1/4C brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a small bowl combine first four dry ingredients for the cookie dough. In a separate bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar. Add egg followed by premixed dry ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are blended into the dough well. Chill dough until easy to handle, at least several hours.

When ready to continue, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl combine 3/4 teaspoon and 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside.

In a large bowl add 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Peel, core and slice apples. Add to brown sugar and cinnamon mixture, tossing to coat. Transfer apples to an 8×8 baking dish.

Form 1 inch balls of dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place coated dough balls on top of apples, press down lightly to slightly flatten.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until apples are tender and cookie topping is lightly golden.

Allow to cool slightly prior to serving. Serve with optional whipped cream or ice cream. May be stored chilled for several days.

Ingredients:

1 fudge brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)2 packages (13 ounces each) miniature peanut butter cups
4 cups cold 2% milk 
2 packages (5.1 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cartons (8 ounces each) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions.  Bake in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake).  Cool on a wire rack; cut into 3/4-in. pieces.  Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish.  In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes (mixture will be thick).  Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well.  Fold in 1-1/2 cartons whipped topping.Place a third of the brownies in a 5-qt. glass bowl; top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups. Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top.  Repeat layers twice. Cover with remaining whipped topping; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chilled. 

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients needed for Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions for making Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cup muffin tin with silicone liners, foil liners sprayed with cooking spray or just spray the cups with cooking spray.  Either of these three methods will make it easy to take the cupcake out after it’s cooked. Paper liners make it difficult to remove the cupcakes.

Mix the pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and milk.  Add the flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda to the mixture. Fill each muffin cup with 1/3 cup of the mixture. Bake for twenty minutes and let cool for twenty minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle more pumpkin pie spice on top and serve. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Ingredients for Christmas Tree Brownies

Brownie Mix

Green Icing

Peppermint Candy Canes

Directions for making Christmas Tree Brownies

Make brownies as instructed on box or recipe. Once baked and cooled, cut into triangles. Break off a candy cane and insert at the bottom of the triangle. Add icing as pictured above.

Ingredients

1 stick Softened Butter
½ cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Flour
1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
7 ounces, weight Container Of Marshmallow Creme
8 whole (1.55 Oz Bars) Hershey’s Chocolate Bars, Unwrapped
1 cup Marshmallows
¼ cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9″ pie pan with baking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add the Egg. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add in the flour. Pour in the graham cracker crumbs. Add the baking powder and mix until just combined.

Divide the dough in half and press half of the dough into the prepared pie pan. Evenly spread the marshmallow cream over the bottom of the crust. Place the Hershey chocolate squares over the marshmallow creme. Place the mini marshmallows over the chocolate bars. Carefully pat the remaining dough over the marshmallows. Some of the marshmallows will peek through and that’s okay. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the pie. Bake the pie for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Ingredients for Pretzel Pumpkins

1 bag mini pretzels {you won’t use the whole bag, only about 1/4}
1 bag M&M’s candy, needing only the green ones {fun separating activity for kids!}
orange food coloring, I used about 1/8th tsp of Wilton’s gel colors
1 bag White Chocolate chips, melted slowly {directions below}
1 TBSP shortening, to thin out chocolate

Instructions for Pretzel Pumpkins

First step is to melt the chocolate. I used 10 oz of baking chocolate squares, but you can use a bag of white chocolate chips- the process is still the same. Before you even put it in the microwave, add about 1 TBSP shortening. You need to thin out the chocolate prior to dunking the pretzels or else the chocolate will be so thick you won’t even be able to tell it’s a pretzel under there! Shortening is the ONLY thing that will do this- don’t add water, butter, etc. Shortening! Go slowly! White chocolate seizes easily, and you don’t want to coat your pretzels with grainy chocolate, right? Go slowly and stir minimally. I put mine on for 1 minute, stirred gently, then put it in for an additional minute. When I took it out, the chocolate still looked solid. It wasn’t! Add your orange coloring and stir gently, until it’s nice and smooth. Once you’ve dunked your pretzel, adding a nice coating, lay it out on a piece of wax paper. While it’s still wet, take a green M&M and set it in the crook of the pretzel, on it’s side.

Brownie  Layer:1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange Food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking pan, and set aside.

Brownie layer: Add melted butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt,  warm water, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. W

hisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/4 cup of the batter for the top.

Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, and food coloring in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.