Fall Brownie Tree - From a Mix

Category: Cookies > Bar > Brownie > Fall Brownie Tree

Looking through the pantry and organizing things a bit (the pantry tends to get more and more shuffled as time passes and every once in a while I need to go in there and straighten things out) I noticed that we had three boxes of brownie mix. Don't ask me why. I know my brother loves brownies but, really, three boxes?

So I decided to be a nice sister and bake up one of the boxes of brownies for my little bubby. It was my mom who suggested using the Christmas Tree pan to see if we could find alternative uses for it. So, this was my attempt at creating a Fall Brownie Tree.

One thing you might noticed from the picture was how much the brownie rose in the pan. I was really surprised to see that the brownie from a mix rose so much. I'm curious if other brands also rise so much. But, it's just something to be aware of that brownie mixes will rise as much as a cake will.

Brownies

Category: Cookies > Bar Cookies > Brownies

There are a lot of different types of brownies out there. Basically, you can add anything you want to your brownies that you like. But, at the base, a brownie is a brownie.

Brownie mixes makes good brownies, but if you are interested in how to make a brownie from scratch, below is a good basic recipe. If you are interested in what the difference between a chocolate cake and a brownie is, it is usually that brownies don't have any Baking Soda or Baking Powder in them so they don't rise up.

This recipe has just a tad bit of Baking Powder so they have just a hint of a cake texture to them.



Recipe:

• 1/2 cup Butter
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Next you need to stir in the egg.

To add egg, place egg in a small bowl and beat while adding a spoonful of the butter, sugar, vanilla mixture to the egg. Continue beating and adding a little bit of the mixture. Now take the egg mixture and slowly beat it back into the butter, sugar, vanilla mixture. You do this because you never want to add an egg to a hot or warm mixture because it will cook the egg and you will get egg clumps.

Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.