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Lunch Lady Brownies

Since baking is my superpower, I don the cape every other week or so and bake up a sweet treat using a recipe I’ve found on Pinterest.  Last week I made brownies, but not just any brownies.

I made

Lunch Lady Brownies

I don’t remember having brownies prepared by the Lunch Lady from my school cafeteria, however I’m fairly certain that there was nothing to be found in the school cafeteria that remotely resembled the brownies pictured on this page.

 

This is more like what I remember…and I don’t see any brownie.

If you search “Lunch Lady” on Pinterest you will discover many Lunch Lady recipes, and several variations of Lunch Lady Brownies.  I adapted (and by adapted, I pretty much mean copied) my recipe from one published by Holly Lofthouse.  The recipe on her blog Life in the Lofthouse is simple and the photos are more appealing than others I’ve seen.

The following are not the aforementioned photos.

But my cameraman took them for me and I like them.

My giraffe inspired KitcheAid makes short work of the brownie batter

The frosting is the best part… spread while the brownies are still slightly warm

It is a good idea to use foil for easy lifting from the pan

 

Here’s the recipe

Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil and spray foil with non-stick spray.
  2. Combine the melted butter and cocoa powder; blend until smooth.
  3. Add the flour and sugar. Beat together then add eggs and vanilla. Mix just until combined. Don’t over mix. (Batter will be thick)
  4. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove brownies from oven and let stand 15 minutes before frosting.
Chocolate Frosting
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup softened butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat together all the frosting ingredients until smooth. Pour and spread over warm brownies. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

No kidding… these are the best brownies I’ve ever tasted!

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Kim

XO

Pumpkin Pound Cake

Friday I said I was planning to make this

Pumpkin Pound Cake

Saturday afternoon I did!

It looks great right?

I’m not going to take credit for a recipe that isn’t mine, but you may find the author of this pumpkin cake here.

Here are the instructions that I followed:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°.  Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour (3 Cups), baking powder (2 tsp), baking soda (1 tsp), salt (1/2 tsp), cinnamon (2 tsp), nutmeg (1/2 tsp), ginger (1/2 tsp), cloves (1/4 tsp); set aside.
  3. In mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream 2 sticks of  butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 3/4 cup of brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Mix in 5 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Mix in 1 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixture. Continue mixing on medium speed until the batter is smooth and well blended. Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted in center.

Once again, I can’t take credit for this cake recipe.  I think it is very delicious, but it belongs to The Spruce who has several good recipes, and you can this one find here.

You’re welcome!

It looks pretty good.

And it tastes great.

That buttery maple pecan glaze is delicious.

Here are the instructions for the glaze:

  1. In a small saucepan, combine 4 Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp maple syrup, and 3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream; bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 1 minute.
  2. Remove from heat and sift 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into the hot mixture. Whisk until smooth. Let cool for about 15 to 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.
  3. Stir in 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans (optional). Drizzle over the cooled cake.

And that is the way to begin a new season!

 

Cookies & Colored Eggs

The Saturday before Easter Sunday would not be complete without coloring eggs.  This year I decided the day wouldn’t be complete without cookies as well.  I started early in the day with spritz cookies.  The recipe I used is from Remarkable Home and I found it on Pinterest.  When I first came across this post, it was cuteness overload.  The Artist has sandwiched the cookies onto pop sticks and formed them into a bouquet.  Intent on using my new bunny platter, I had no intention of going to bouquet route, but it was certainly adorable.

With my handy spritz cookie press and the basic recipe from Remarkable Home I was able to create these festive flowers:

And they are tasty.  The cookies are all brushed with a light glaze.  The pink and orange have colored sprinkles; the green and blue do not.  The general consensus is that the sprinkle cookies taste better, however those without sprinkles look better.  Maybe I went a little overboard on the sprinkling.

After I decorated all the flower cookies I placed them on the Garden Bunny Cake Stand from Pier One that I purchased on a recent shopping trip.

Isn’t it cute

 

This evening I drafted my daughters to do the egg coloring for me.  Stephanie and Amanda took care of the metallic and tie dye Easter eggs and did a great job.  We decorated 18 but my math/division skills were lacking at the time so we ended up with 10 metallic and 8 tie dye.  My bad.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the time with my girls.

 

This is Eloise

 

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