There’s nothing better than ending a summer night with homemade ice cream. We love making new flavors, but cookie dough has been a popular one lately. This flavor is vegan, gluten-free, and easy to customize.
It’s safe to say that the ice cream maker we purchased last summer has been the best investment. I sometimes dread buying an appliance because I feel like I won’t use it and it’ll take up shelf space, but our ice cream maker gets used more than the toaster. And I eat a lot of avocado toast, so that’s saying a lot. I already have my pumpkin spiced latte ice cream ready to go for a Fall recipe, so if you don’t have an ice cream maker yet, you may want to invest in one! It’s a lot of fun coming up with your own flavors, and it’s much cheaper than buying those overpriced pints at the grocery store. 

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a boomerang of my cookie dough ice cream on Instagram. I didn’t realize so many people loved cookie dough ice cream, but the requests for this recipe was high. I’m so excited for you all to try this one because it’s practically heaven in a bowl. We sat outside on the patio last night with our bowls of ice cream, and I had the “I never want summer to end” feeling for the first time in a long time. 

Making ice cream used to sound intimidating to me, but it’s one of the easiest desserts to make. For the base of my ice cream, I add light coconut milk, almond milk, sugar, tapioca flour, sea salt, and vanilla. This is almost always my ice cream base to make it creamy while keeping it dairy-free. You can make swaps to change it up, which we do all the time if we don’t have an ingredient on hand. You can change the sugar to monk fruit or stevia if you want to keep it sugar-free, and you can use any nut milk to replace the almond milk. 

I start by blending all the ingredients on high, giving it a taste-test with a spoon to see if it needs a splash of anything else, and then add it to my ice cream maker. We always keep the base of the ice cream maker in the freezer that way we can have ice cream anytime we want.  

Since I was making cookie dough ice cream, I added a few cookies to the oven while the ice cream churned.

I took the easy way out and bought vegan cookie dough for this recipe. 

If you don’t feel like purchasing the store-bought cookie dough, you can make homemade vegan and gluten-free cookies for this recipe. I’ve done it plenty of times, and it turns out delicious. I use my chocolate chip cookie recipe and keep the baking soda and flaxseed out. There’s no need to add them in if you’re not baking the dough.
If you don’t like coconut, you should still try out this recipe. The coconut tastes is so mild, and most non-coconut fans who try this recipe end up loving it. 

Print

Homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream | gluten-free & vegan

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6 Servings

Equipment

• Ice Cream Maker

Ingredients

• 1 can light coconut milk 13.5 FL OZ
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk any nut milk works
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsps tapioca flour
• 1/3 cup sugar or any sweetener of your choice
• 1 cup vegan cookie dough homemade or store-bought

Instructions

• Add the coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk, vanilla, sea salt, tapioca flour, and sugar to a blender. Mix on high until smooth
• Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and let it churn for 25-minutes.
• Fold in the crumbled up cookie dough.
• Enjoy!

I’ve never been a huge fan of the store-bought cookie dough ice cream. I feel as if you don’t get many chunks of cookie dough and it’s just globs of vanilla ice cream, but with this recipe, you can add as much cookie dough as you’d like, and the coconut makes it more of a creamy soft-serve, which is my favorite!

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! Ours will be filled with backyard picnics and sticky ice cream fingers!

Questions for you!

1. Come up with the coolest ice cream flavor, and I’ll make it for the blog! 
2. Do you have an ice cream maker?
3. What are you doing this weekend?

I’ve been focussing on eating less processed, more whole, and lower-sugar foods this summer. A few months ago, I found myself eating way too many “healthier” processed foods and not paying attention to added sugar in anything. I’ve been focussing on eating more “real-food” protein sources instead of relying on my protein powders or snack bars. I feel a lot better. I hardly ever need my afternoon cup of coffee, and I don’t experience the “sugar crash” at the end of the day.
These 3-ingredient brownies are WHOLE as it gets. A few years ago, I was on peanut butter and banana brownie kick. I made a recipe similar to this one with peanut butter, brownie, egg, and sweet potatoes. It was one of my favorites! Since I needed to use up the bananas before they went bad, I decided to make a similar recipe using only two other ingredients: almond butter & banana.

Please follow me on Instagram for more food inspiration! —> @TARALYNNMCNITT

These brownies are going to impress you! They are fudgy, super chocolatey, and just as sweet as the real deal. We don’t give bananas enough credit for their sugary goodness. You could probably trick your kiddos into thinking that they are eating the most demanded brownies. The top of the brownie’s texture reminded me of those cosmic brownies I used to eat as a kid.

This recipe makes 12 brownies, and the nutrition facts are pretty good!

98 Calories, 11g Carbs, 3g Fiber, 6g Fat, 3g Protein, 4g SugarTHREE INGREDIENTS
-Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
-3 Extra Ripe Bananas
-Salted OR Unsalted Almond butter.

And just because I used three ingredients for these brownies doesn’t mean you have to. You can use this recipe as your “base” and then add things you like such as cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate chips, or icing on top!
You can replace the almond butter with ANY nut butter of your choice. 
My favorite part is how easy these brownies are to make, and you probably already have all the ingredients in your house!  
Don’t let the batter go to waste. Grab a spatula and eat all the leftover batter! It’s the best part about making brownies.

Look how incredible they look! Hard to believe they’re made with only three ingredients. 😮 & if you want me to blog the sweet potato brownie recipe, let me know! It’s been a while since I’ve made them, but I’m sure I can figure out how I did it. This recipe makes 12 brownies!

Print

3-Ingredient Fudgy Brownies

These healthy fudgy brownies are made with only three ingredients! They're vegan, gluten-free, paleo, and budget-friendly.

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword brownies, paleo, whole30 compliant,, snack, breakfast, healthy, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, on the go, whole foods

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 19 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Brownies

Calories 98kcal

Author Taralynn McNitt

Equipment

• oven

Ingredients

• 3 large bananas extra ripe
• 1/2 cup organic creamy almond butter salted or unsalted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350-degrees
• In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas until lump-free.
• Mix in the almond butter, and cocoa powder.
• Grease a baking sheet, and evenly distribute the batter into the pan.
• Bake 17-20 minutes.

  Use the toothpick method to determine if they're done.
• Let the brownies chill in the refrigerator for 45-minutes.
• Store in the refrigerator for best results.

I hope you try this recipe out! & if you do, don’t forget to tag me so I can see your creations! ♥️

Questions for you!

1. Do you have a favorite 3-ingredient recipe?
2. Do you find yourself eating healthier in the summer or winter?
3. Are you team walnuts in your brownie?

you may also like…

I have made these brownies weekly! Here are more photos. With an almond butter swirl on top! 
With sugar-free chocolate chips on top! 
Try it with unsweetened coconut! It toasts up perfectly! This time with an almond butter swirl and caramel chocolate on top!

SHARE YOUR PHOTOS WITH ME! (check out other submissions)

It’s about 8:15 pm and I just got back from the gym. My gym routine looks like this *walks on a treadmill at a 3.4-mile pace while playing candy crush and listening to podcasts for 60-minutes* I’ve been doing this several times a week for the past year. To be honest, the only reason I go is that I feel guilty when Kyle goes to the gym five days a week, so I guess it’s a good thing? After I get past that dreadful feeling, I always feel better when I leave the gym. I’m just excited for warmer temps and brighter evenings so I can do my evening walks outside. 
Earlier this afternoon, I took the pups for a long walk and then did a quick power clean of the downstairs. I didn’t feel like diving into emails, so I decided to bake some brownies. I have been craving them all week but was too lazy to make them. I was browsing Pinterest and found this recipe for the Ultimate Fudgy Paleo Vegan Brownies. This was exactly what I had been looking for, and I just happened to have all the ingredients in my house to make them.

I loved that the ingredients were simple, and the recipe was incredibly easy to follow. 
All you need is coconut sugar, almond butter, almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, unsweetened cocoa powder, sea salt, flax seeds, and dairy-free chocolate chips.

The flax + water mixture is an egg substitute that works perfectly. You only need one large bowl to do all the mixing!

First, you mix the coconut oil, syrup, almond butter, and maple syrup together until it forms a caramel-like texture. Next, you slowly mix in the cocoa powder 1/4 cup at a time. I ended up adding more coconut oil because it was very dry. I think it all depends on which cocoa powder you use.

Once you’ve created a frosting-like batter, mix in the vanilla, salt, and flax egg. 
Fold in the almond flour! I did a taste test of the batter, and it was heavenly. 
Instead of folding in the chocolate chips, I sprinkled about 1/3 cup on top. The chocolate brownies are so rich and decadent by themselves that they were delicious even without the chocolate chips.

I added the brownies to a greased pan and baked them for 30 minutes at 325. I will use a smaller pan next time, but I did like the thinner brownies. 
After letting them cool for about 45-minutes, I cut into them and took my first bite. Wow! Wow! Wow! They were super fudgy, not overly sweet, insanely chocolatey, and the perfect dessert to keep in the house! I am going to make a homemade banana coconut ice cream to go on top for tomorrow night.

PS, the blue napkins in the background are the ones I dyed at the indigo workshop in my latest post! 
If you want to make these, check out the Beaming Baker blog for the recipe and so many more delicious recipes!

Questions for you!

1. Brownies or blondies?
2. Any weekend plans?

Or try my avocado brownies!! 

Last Friday, it was cold and rainy. I spent most of the day cleaning, meal prepping, and making these delicious figgy banana almond blondies. I had my last one this morning with my coffee, and I’m sad they are gone. The flavor is rich and hard to believe that it’s healthy. These figgy banana blondies are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, grain free, and have no added sugars. My parents were obsessed with them, so I had to send them home with half the batch on Saturday afternoon when they stopped by.

I sat down last night and created a big Spring menu for the blog. I have so many fun recipes coming that are healthy, filled with wholesome foods, and delicious. When the warmer months arrive, I’m all about cooking recipes. During the winter, I kind of throw things together and call it a meal. 
I love figs so much, and they add so much sweetness to desserts or even savory dishes. When I was cutting up figs to make an appetizer a while back, Kyle was horrified by the look of them. I made him try one, and he was shocked. He loved them. I ended up making him cut the rest of the package because he ate the ones I had already chopped! I usually keep them in my freezer for a post-workout treat. They remind me of dates.

These are great snack bars, breakfast bars, post-workout bars, and they pair perfectly with vanilla ice cream!

Make sure to cool the bars in the fridge for at least two hours before slicing.

This recipe makes fifteen bars! (depending on the pan you use) 
I drizzled a little honey on this one  

Nutrition Per Bar: 180 Calories, 19g Carbs, 9g Fat, 7g Protein, 4g Fiber, 6g Sugar

Now, I need to get in the kitchen and come up with the next recipe I’ll eat all week long!

Questions for you!

1. Does warm weather make you happy?
2. Are you team figs?

Before I knew it, it was 7 pm, and my parents were at the door. They stopped by to bring me a few birthday gifts, and have some cake with me. Kyle came over a little bit after them, and now I’m finally on the couch ready to get this blog up! We are leaving for Charleston in the morning
About a week ago, I decided to make avocado brownies.

Almost four years ago, I made avocado brownies, and they have been a favorite! Well, I decided to change up the recipe, and these turned out incredible. I can’t even explain how good they taste! You’ll have to make them and try them to ever fully understand.

My parents and Kyle were obsessed. My mom packed half of this batch up to take home, and I was forced to make a whole new batch on Sunday night because they were requesting them.

What I love about this recipe is that it’s truly simple. You know me, I love simple!

The awesome part? They have only 7g of Carbs and a whopping 7g of protein! You could even add protein powder if you wanted more. 
These fudgy, rich, and decadent brownies are perfect for pretty much anyone. They are gluten free, low carb, dairy free, soy free, no added sugars, and healthy as it gets! You can trick anyone into thinking these are filled with butter, sugar, or real flour. This would be a great treat to pack into your kid’s lunches, eat for dessert, snacks, or with your coffee in the morning (that’s what I did.)

I always crave brownies around Valentine’s day. My mom and I used to make (boxed) brownies, frosted sugar cookies, and truffles for the family. Valentine’s Day was always my mom and me’s favorite holiday. She always got me a giant Valentine’s Day basket filled with fun goodies like fuzzy socks, conversation hearts, and stuffed animals. She did this even when I was in high school. This recipe would be a great treat for a Valentine’s Day party or gift. You could add some pink and red sprinkles, or Valentine’s Day themed M&Ms. 

This recipe makes 16 jumbo brownies!

For each brownie: 170 Calories, 7g Carbs, 14g Fat, 7g Protein, 3g Fiber, 1g Sugar
I also tested this with a mug/microwave, and it was a success! You could make a bunch of the batter, and save it for single-serving mug brownies.
I made the batch on Sunday with birthday sprinkles! My goal for the next batch is to make them without eggs so that they are vegan-friendly. I will also be adding peanut butter to those!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these! I made a birthday cake with a similar recipe that I’ll be sharing soon!

Questions for you!

1. Brownies or cookies?
2. Rainbow sprinkles or gummy bears?
3. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Good Morning <3

I hope all of your week’s are off to a great start! I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. I feel like my weeks go by so fast nowadays. I wanted to catch you guys all up before I head out on my trip today! I’m driving up to D.C. to surprise my brother for his birthday (assuming he doesn’t read my blog.) I’m so excited because Becca (best friend) took some days off and will be coming with me! I love bestie weekends That means…Exploring! We don’t have any set plans, so we are going to metro, walk and go all weekend! I will also be keeping up with the August Fit Challenge while I’m gone!

I’ve lightened up the workouts the past week for myself. I went so hard in July and I think my body was telling me to rest. I’ve made sure to keep my miles below five, stretch more, drink water, and do strength training four times a week (instead of everyday.) I will step it up starting tomorrow! The break was much needed. I sometimes beat myself up when I take breaks, so I need to work on not being so hard on myself or realizing that it’s ok to take time off. Listen to your body first.

 
Becca and I headed to the park to workout on Monday night. We walked, did some outdoor strength training and other random workouts using the playground! Crazy how much you can do without a gym.

 We met this little guy at the park after our workout. A super nice lady rescued four pitbull puppies and the parents from a bad environment. They were so sweet and it makes me so sad to think of how mean people are to animals!

SO VICIOUS!

 
We were coming up with fun outdoor workouts! Getting across the rope without using your feet was so hard!

He’s so precious. He gets to hang out with Kyle all weekend!

Becca and I headed to Amelie’s on Tuesday night to work a bit and grab a dessert! Can you believe I didn’t drink coffee!? I’m doing pretty well! It’s going to be hard in D.C. since all the coffee is so good! I’m gong to bring my backpack and fill it up with water.

SO…I made Eating Bird Food’s delicious chocolate hummus brownies! I made a few swaps to save a trip to the grocery store. I love how basic and real the ingredients are! I added peanut butter chips and dark chocolate chips! I also used dark chocolate cocoa powder (to save a trip) and they were so good! You cannot taste the hummus and they were super fudgy! I used the classic Sabra hummus for mine! I highly recommend trying these out!

I ran two miles yesterday before getting caught in the rain and so I called it quits and headed to the gym with Becca. We did two of the August Fit Challenge circuits & then sat in the sauna (while chugging water.)

Kyle and I caught up on the show “The Nigh Of” sooooooooooooooo good!!!

Post gym popcorn!

Rewind to Sunday!

I still can’t believe I jumped out of a plane. I will be blogging all about that experience soon, but it’s going to be a long one! After taking the jump (he had no idea we were going), we headed back to Charlotte!

Steve (Kyle’s friend) and I cooked up a feast for Kyle’s birthday! & we also made the ULTIMATE birthday cake.

Look at that happy face!

These are my favorite little appetizers! They are inspired by a trip I took to D.C.

Ingredients: 1 Package Cream Cheese, 2 tsps garlic powder, juice from 1/2 small lemon, black pepper, red onion slices, fresh dill, smoked salmon, and a french baguette.

First stir the lemon, cream cheese, garlic, and pepper to taste together. Taste test the cream cheese to make sure it doesn’t need more garlic, dill, lemon, or pepper.

While you’re making the cream cheese mixture, place the baguette in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 300 degrees to heat. Once you take the baguette out, slice it into little pieces.

Spread the cream cheese over the baguette

Add the smoked salmon, red onion, and a speck of dill.

(Shoutout to Meighan for preparing these babies!)

Steve prepared all the meat! BBQ wings & garlic and herb chicken breast!

The broccoli was steamed and finished on the stovetop with sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil.

Recipe for the roasted potatoes can be found here! 

Dinner was SO GOOD and we were all so stuffed!

Steve and I started brainstorming about cake ideas. We decided to do something over the top and completely crazy! Kyle likes peanut butter chocolate and that is exactly what he got!

Boxed yellow cake, boxed chocolate cake, rainbow sprinkles, Reese’s peanut butter cups, peanut butter M&M’s, peanut butter chips, creamy peanut butter, and chocolate fudge frosting!

We baked four layers! We also added peanut butter chips to the yellow cake mix.

Our frosting consisted of two containers of chocolate fudge frosting and one jar of creamy peanut butter!

We stacked each layer on top of layer of frosting and then frosted all the way around the cake. We lined the bottom of the cake with peanut butter chips, pressed peanut butter M&M’s all around the cake, topped it with rainbow sprinkles, stuck Reese’s pieces into the top and then added candles! We all had SO MUCH FUN making this cake!

It was huge! The five of us had to split one slice and still couldn’t get it all down! We had SO MUCH leftover.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!:)

The cake was dangerously good.

 I hope you all have a great weekend and I will keep you all updated from D.C.! You can keep up with my travels on Instagram and Snapchat: @taralynnmcnitt!

Questions for you!

1. How do you know when to take a break from working out?
2. What is the craziest dessert you’ve ever made?
3. Snapchat stories or Instagram stories?

Whoever combined mint and chocolate together for the first time was a genius. It’s one of the best food combinations out there. I always associate mint with St Patrick’s Day becuase my mom would take my brother and I to get Shamrock shakes. Plus, mint is green. The color green has been associated with St. Patrick’s day since the 1600s–thats a long time!

SO…in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve decided to make a mint Oreo fudge brownie. It’s a spinoff to my Valentines Day red velvet brownies. They are moist, fudgy, and unbelievable chocolatey. They have a flakey and crisp crust filled with a chocolaty fudge center. They are to die for! I love the mini pieces of mint Oreos swimming throughout the dessert.

INGREDIENTS

Melt butter on medium heat over the stove.

Add semi-sweet chocolate chips and continue to stir. *If you love the minty flavor, replace half of the semisweet chocolate chips with mint chips.

Continue to stir on low heat until the chocolate is melted.

Once the chocolate chips are melted, add the unsweetened cocoa powder.

Stir until the chocolate is lump free and smooth.

Add the chocolate to a new bowl and place it on the counter or in the refriderator to cool for ten minutes

While the chocolate is cooling, mix the eggs and sugar together.

Mix in the vanilla extract, mint extract, and salt.

Mix in the cooled chocolate.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and the baking soda. Turn speed down to low and beat in the flour mixture slowly.

Coat a baking dish with butter and pour the batter into the baking dish.

Break apart 10-15 Oreos and spread them out at the bottom of the baking dish. This will give the brownies a minty and crispy crust.

Pour the batter over the Oreo pieces and use a spatula to spread the brownies out evenly.

Bake 45-50 Minutes.

Allow the brownies to cool for about an hour before serving.

Slice the brownies into fifteen giant pieces!

Fudgy Mint Oreo Brownies

INGREDIENTS

Checkout my recipe gallery on Food Lion.com 

THREE QUESTIONS FOR YOU

1. Do you like mint?
2. Do you have any St. Patrick’s day traditions/memories.
3. Have you ever been pinched for not wearing green?

Once you try homemade brownies from scratch, you’ll never be able to eat the boxed stuff ever again. These homemade red velvet brownies are the perfect dessert to make for Valentines day. They are moist, fudgy, and unbelievable chocolatey. The cream cheese frosting is perfectly whipped and sweet. They are also surprisingly super easy to whip together. Making homemade brownies can seem pretty intimidating, but once you do it, you’ll never go back. You may have to double the recipe becuase these lasted twenty minutes at our family get-together.

Ingredients

• 12 Ounces Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 1/4 Cups Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 4 Large Eggs
•  2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 Teaspoon Almond Extract
• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• Red Food Coloring
• Frosting: 6 ounces Cream Cheese, 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, 2 Teaspoons Vanilla, 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar, 2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Want to make a healthier brownie!? Try my Whole Wheat Avocado Brownies!

Have you ever been extremely tired, however you just don’t feel like going to bed? That is me tonight. I have heavy eyes that are fighting to stay open, but I’d rather sit here and blog while watching my movies. Most likely I won’t make it through his post and I’ll have to finish it in the morning
…

That didn’t take long. I was out right after that paragraph.

First off, I am pumped up today! It’s IOWA GAME DAY! I’ve already put on my Hawkeye shirt.:)

Since it’s Saturday, I wanted to reflect back on my week and share some things that I did, ate, and loved!

^ Tuesday Morning Breakfast: Energize toast with almond butter and jelly, blueberries, strawberries,

Tuesday night I went to cross fit with Nick, and then we had chipotle for dinner. I usually get their salads topped with half and half chicken and steak, a little bit of cheese, black beans, corn, and a little bit of brown rice.

I finally got the feeling back in my legs. That workout was tough, but I liked it and can’t wait to do more.

The middle wrap is a whole grain flatout wrap with lettuce, avocado, mustard, turkey, and mozzarella.

My life was filled with puppies this week. I was in dog heaven!

Grumples had a checkup on Wednesday for his ear and everything is good! He is prone to infections because he has the floppy ears.

Tino, Chip, Grumples, and Rudy!

Nick and I went to Wes’s house for the first college football game on Thursday night. Wes is a huge foodie and always makes unique meals. Thursday he made brats topped with pickled onions and cucumbers, spring mix lettuce, dijon mustard, and a jalapeño jelly. I’m not a huge brat person (or hotdog person) but I did have a bite of Nick’s to try it. It was pretty freaking good.

Orange ginger Siggi’s yogurt is something I’m LOVIN’ lately! I love anything ginger. I love the chunks of ginger and oranges in this yogurt.

I mixed in some of those chocolate covered chia seeds, Nature valley oats, and some cinnamon roasted chickpeas.

Check out that dirty face. I had to clean all my sheets yesterday because grumples decided to hide his bone in the dirty rocks. I tried to scrub it out and give him a bath but it’s all stained. He gets groomed next week, thank goodness!

The nylabones are the only toys to keep them preoccupied.

These two are non-stop!

And out of all the places they could  have picked to chew their bones…it had to be my bed.

In order for me to get into the mood to study, I need to be relaxed. So I put a playlist on spotify, turned the lamps on and burned a pumpkin spice scentsy.

I also made coffee!

Later in the afternoon, my canvas arrived! I ordered a couple last week and then ordered more this week! I should have more coming soon.

I had to hang them up immediately. I grabbed the nails and a rusty old hammer!

The first photo is the shot I took a couple weeks ago after having dinner at the Garden Cafe. 

The second shot is the photo I took in Maine at a coffee shop in Ogunquit.

While I was cleaning some of the storage room, I found this painting I did when I lived in Chicago! It doesn’t match anything I have, so I may give it away.

After cleaning, doing laundry, studying, and walking the dogs, I made a banana mango raspberry flaxseed smoothie!

It had almond milk, ice, frozen mango, frozen raspberries, a frozen banana, 1 packet stevia, and ground flaxseeds.

I also made those outrageously delicious brownies yesterday; it’s the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. I was planning on making them Thursday, but Charlotte traffic put a hold on them. I’ll be bringing these out for the games today!

What are you guys doing this weekend?

Don’t forget to check out the new items and the new web design! 

Outrageous brownies! They sure do live up to their name. The Barefoot Contessa outdid herself with this recipe! I spent Saturday morning in the blazing hot sun watching a baseball game. I was supposed to stay for another game but I couldn’t handle the sun. It was 94 degrees and there wasn’t a single trace of shade to sit under.

I decided to sneak away for an afternoon to myself with the pups.

I stopped at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for the salmon and cream cheese baguettes. I really wanted Nick to try them because he loves salmon, and that recipe is right up his alley, plus I love them.

While I was shopping, I contemplated on picking up some ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, but I have made those so many times. I figured the boys would forgive me for leaving their second ball game faster, if they came home to a plate of treats. I finally decided on brownies. I haven’t made very many homemade brownie recipes that weren’t healthy.

I typed into google “best brownie recipe in the world.” Surely something would pop up. The first one with five stars was Barefoot Contessa’s, so I grabbed some ingredients that I needed and made my way out of the grocery store.

I made sure to grab rainbow sprinkles; they’re Nick’s favorite.

The ingredients were simple, which I loved.

Ingredients: 

*1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks)
*1 pound + 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (3 3/4 cups)
*6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used dark chocolate)
*6 extra-large eggs
*3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
*2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
*2 1/4 cups sugar
*1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
*1 tablespoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon salt
optional* 3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a pan (12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet) with butter and flour.

Boil a pot of hot water. Once the water comes to a boil, place a large bowl on top (or pan) and melt the butter, unsweetend chocolate (or dark chocolate) and 3 cups of chocolate chips together.

Cool chocolate mixture slightly. I just removed it from the heat and let it cool on he counter.

With a spoon, in a large bowl, stir the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar.

Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

Sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture.

Mix the remaining chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter.

Pour into the baking pan.

Tap the baking pan a couple times to get all the air bubbles out.

Bake for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven and tap it against the counter to get rid of the air bubbles.

Continue to bake for another 15 minutes. The sides will cook faster.

These are incredibly easy to make and close to the best brownies I’ve ever had. It’s probably my second favorite brownie I’ve ever had. The first is at Nan & Byron’s, but I don’t have that recipe.

They were fudge-y, cake-y and evenly sweet. The tops were crisp like a coating and the insides were moist. Everyone loved them!

These will be my go-to brownies from now on! Whenever I have something to bake fore, I’m definitely putting these on the list! Talk about impressing the guest!

Oh! & the boys forgave me!

Don’t forget to check out the new arrivals in my shop! They’re going fast