Scream Cheese Swirl Brownies

OoooOoooOooooOooooOooooo!!

That was my lame interpretation of a ghost, or something spooky anyway.

Friends, we are SO close to Halloween!

In honor of one of my favorite holidays (Thanksgiving is still the favorite: it is, after all, focused on food) I am sharing with you some wonderfully spooky sweet treats you can whip up to share with your ghosts and goblins, your fiends and friends.

Today we shall start with a super simple recipe for Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies. Seriously, these are so easy I am thinking about adapting it for every color scheme I could ever need in my life. Valentine's swirl brownies, Christmas Swirl Brownies...Because who ever says no to a brownie??

No one.

At least no one I know. College students aren't typically known for being picky eaters. Free food equals friends for life.

But back to brownies!

I've included a couple of step-by-step pictures to help you in case you get lost, but the wonderful thing about this recipe is that it is so forgiving. The brownie recipe is one-bowl-wonderful and as long as you swirl your knife randomly through the brownie batter and cream cheese, you're bound to end up with a beautiful marble effect.

See? Nothing to it but to do it.

Mmmm...spooky and scrumptious.

I'll be back at the beginning of next week with a recipe that is slightly more involved, but will result in some adorably festive candy corn cookies.

See you then!

P.S. This last photo is from Instagram :O Finally getting the hang of it! 

Scream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Via Baked Perfection

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp warm water
1 tsp vinegar
2 egg, beaten
3/4 cup flour

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
orange food coloring (red and yellow)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9x9 baking pan.
2. In a large bowl whisk (one by one) butter, sugar, cocoa powder, egg, and vinegar together, mixing well after each addition.
3. Gently stir in baking soda and flour until just combined. Pour all but 1/4 cup brownie batter into prepared pan.
4. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla, then add food coloring until desired shade is reached.
5. Gently pour cream cheese mixture over brownie batter in pan, covering the entire brownie layer. Dollop the remaining 1/4 cup of brownie batter randomly over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
6. Gently pull a knife or spatula through the layers, swirling to create a marbled effect.
7. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Quick Clementine Muffins

Hello all!

I know you are all so surprised to hear from me! But this is a quick post to share with you one of my favorite treats ever...

the muffin.

Because, no matter how many exams or papers I may have, I always have time for muffins. Like Jim Gaffigan said, "they're like muffin vitamins" and are important to maintaining my, erm, sanity to say the least.

So, clementine muffins. Simple, quick, delicious, and wonderfully reminiscent of the warmer weather I and my Northeast friends have been teased with these past few weeks. Will the warm weather stay? Probably not. Will these muffins stick around for long?

Triple Citrus Cupcakes

Hello all!

I know it's been so long since I last posted, but who knew having your wisdom teeth out could take so much out of you. Now that my face no longer resembles that of a Cabbage Patch Kid (as my mother so lovingly called me) and I can open my mouth enough to eat, I decided to celebrate with cupcakes!

It also happens to be a lovely 80 degrees here in Florida, so Triple Citrus sounds splendid to me and my long neglected sweet tooth. Lemon, Lime, and Orange? Yes Please!

Of course I wanted to break out the icing tips for these and attempt to beautify them, but wouldn't you know it that as soon as I piped an adorable little mound of frosting, it flattened out to this...

Oh well, you can't blame a girl for trying. Though I have to admit, it now looks like I covered my cupcakes in what they covered young children in on Nickelodeon's SlimeTime Live. Does anyone else remember that show besides me? What was that stuff? At least mine is citrus-y sweet and made from ingredients that are indeed edible. 

As always, for me - taste is paramount; so I wasn't too upset about the icing since the entire cupcake screams "summer" in my mouth. For someone who's facing a return to dreary, New Jersey weather in a week, I plan to enjoy these and the warm Florida weather for as long as I can!

I've included the recipe from Read. Cook. Digest. below, and if you really enjoy citrus, I'd suggest adding an additional tsp of zest (or two!) in the batter and the frosting. 

As Always, Happy Baking!

Triple Citrus Cupcakes Via Read. Cook. Digest.

1- 8oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp orange zest (increase to 3 if you really love orange!)4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 325 and grease/line 2-12 cup muffin pans

2. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, and orange zest in a medium bowl.

3. Beat in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat vegetable oil into wet ingredient mixture. Then, alternately fold in flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour. Mix only until just incorporated.

5. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched.

6. Let cool while you prepare the frosting

Citrus Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp (or 2!) lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup softened butter

food coloring (optional)

splash of milk (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients and beat until you have a smooth consistency. If too stiff, add splash of milk.