Food for Thought Friday

Trick-or-Treat Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box fudge brownie mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

2 eggs

1 cup white vanilla baking chips

1-3/4 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons butter or margarine softened

3 tablespoons milk

6-8 drops red food color

6-8 drops yellow food color

24 miniature candy bars

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Spray your muffin pans with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

3.  In a mixing bowl combine the brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs.

4.  Mix well - duh.

5.  Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake them 13 to 18 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to be sure they are set.

6.  And now for what I like to call the crucial step - lick the whisk, spatula, and any other utensil that touched the mixing bowl (including the bowl itself!) completely clean.  None of the yummy brownie batter should be wasted!

7.  Allow your brownie cupcakes to cool for 30 minutes.

8.  Microwave the vanilla chips on medium heat (50%) for 30 to 45 seconds.  Be sure to stir every 15 seconds or so.

9.  While the vanilla chips are cooling combine the powdered sugar, butter, milk, and food colors in another bowl.  Beat with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Fair warning - the first time I made this recipe I added the milk right away and ended up with the runniest icing ever.  As with most recipes it is best to add your dry ingredients first and then add the wet ones a little at a time as needed.  You may find that you don't even need the entire 3 tablespoons of milk.  Also as far as the food coloring goes - use however many drops it takes to get a color that you like.

10.  Stir in the melted vanilla chips.  As you can see from the below picture I don't actually own a mixer so everything has to be done by hand.  It's a bit messier and much more time consuming, but I eventually get the job done :)

11.  Spoon the frosting over your cooled brownies.  If you want you could always use an icing bag and tip and pipe the icing in pretty designs onto the brownies.

12.  Top each brownie cupcake with a miniature candy bar.  I used Snickers because they are David's favorite, but you could use whatever you like.

13.  Enjoy!  The rich fudgey brownie taste mixed with the sweet creaminess of the vanilla in the icing is wonderful and makes for a perfect Halloween treat :)