White Chocolate Brownies with Sprinkles

Made these for my niece G's birthday - we took them to her last week (on our girls road trip) and didn't want to make cake that would fall apart or cupcakes that might dry out - so googled for other birthday dessert ideas that would travel well and found these white chocolate brownies full of sprinkles. They are pretty, chocolatey (even though it doesn't look it), and they arrived fresh and in one piece. Can't ask for much more than that in a birthday dessert! She kept cutting off little pieces saying she couldn't stop eating it - I'll take that as they are yummy in addition to being pretty :)

• 6 tablespoons very soft butter
• 8 oz. white chocolate (I used chips)
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sprinkles (I used regular sprinkles in the batter and topped with my sprinkle mix - click here for that post)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'F.
2. In a glass bowl, melt the white chocolate according to package instructions (I put in micro for 30 seconds, stirred, then did 15 more seconds and stir again until super smooth)
3. Once melted and smooth, stir in the softened butter. Add sugar and mix will with a wooden spoon. Mix in the salt, vanilla, and eggs until incorporated. Stir in flour until well combined. Fold in the sprinkles until evenly distributed.
4. Spread batter into a greased 8" pan and add a few extra sprinkles on top. Bake for 28 minutes until it's set and lightly browned. Let cool before cutting into squares. 

serves 16. Found the recipe here. 

note: I cut parchment to fit the pan and lightly sprayed with non-stick spray so I could easily lift them out of the pan. Then I put in a large baggie to transport. 

she's a teenager and wouldn't
let me take her picture!! 

two years ago: see the earrings I made out of fish lures!

Brownie, Oreo, and Reese's Ice Cream Cake

I asked Brooke if she wanted me to make or buy her a dessert for her birthday dinner last night (that's usually my assignment - yay!), she texted back "MAKE". I replied "did you just yell that at me?" and she said "no, I screamed it at you"! Ok then, I guess I'm making it hahaha. I laughed. Her request? Ice cream cake, any flavor as long as it has peanut butter please.

First I baked the brownie crust (using 1/2 of a boxed mix) in the bottom of a 8.5" springform pan, then put the other layers on top. Note * I will do this differently next time and bake the brownie in a different 8.5" pan, then put it in the springform pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and lined with plastic wrap...the brownie baked in the bottom made the cake SO hard to get out this way! The pan really needs to be sprayed and lined before assembling the cake. Fair warning people. Other than that this is a super easy dessert to make - really you just wing it, whatever flavors you like and use your imagination for toppings and candy.

first layer of fudge, cookies and
peanut butter cups

For this one I put on a layer of chocolate ice cream (let it stand on the counter for a few minutes to soften up, then mix it well so it's smooth but not melted), put in the freezer until it's hardened up. Warm a jar of hot fudge until it's spreadable and put a layer of that on top of the ice cream followed by chopped up oreo cookies and chopped mini reese's peanut butter cups. Freeze again. Then add a layer of peanut butter ice cream (I just put vanilla ice cream in a bowl and using my electric mixer beat in a big spoonful of peanut butter - voila, peanut butter ice cream), freeze. To finish I spread a thin layer of cool whip on top, drizzled with additional warmed hot fudge (I put it in a ziplock baggie and cut off the tip to control the drizzling), topped with more chopped oreos and reese's. Freeze until ready to serve.

finished peanut butter cake

Now here's a funny thing - since not everyone at the party could eat peanut butter (Dave), I thought I'd be nice and make a second ice cream cake using the other half of the brownie mix, topped with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge and chopped oreos, topped with banana split ice cream, finished with cool whip and chocolate drizzle. Everyone except my sister ate the banana split one! Even Brooke - after she specifically asked for peanut butter. Good grief. I left both of the cakes with my sister, hopefully someone helps her eat the peanut butter one - there was a ton left!

banana split cake

top of banana split cake before the
drizzle froze to the aluminum
foil I wrapped the cake in, and then
 pulled off when unwrapping. ugh.
note to self - wrap these in plastic!