Kit Kat Brownie Cheesecake Bars

Let me just say you need to make these bars.

They are not just regular old cheesecake bars or brownies.....they are cheesecake bars AND brownies, sandwiched TOGETHER with Kit Kats....

Um excuse me but where have you been all my life?!

Initially I was a little hesitant that they would be complicated to make or that Mr B would not be entirely thrilled with them given they were bound to be rich and indulgent but wouldn't you know it, they were dead easy and Mr B fell head over heels in love with them!

I think that aside from how incredible they taste, one of the best things about these bars is how they look when you cut them, I love the defined layers and chunks of Kit Kat!

To make these Kit Kat Brownie Cheesecake Bars you will need:

For the Brownie layer....
115g butter
45g dark chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 tspn vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup plain flour
5 regular sized kat kat bars or one bag of fun size kit kats

For the Cheesecake layer
450g cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tspns lemon juice
2 tspns vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 175C and line an 8x8 inch pan with baking paper or a silicone mat.

To make the brownie base, start by combining the butter and chocolate and heat in a microwave safe bowl for 40 seconds and stir until smooth.

Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, egg and flour. The batter will be very thick, but that's good. Beat until combined. Spoon the batter into your pan and smooth the top.

Layer the Kit Kat bars over the top of the brownie batter in one layer, ensuring the whole surface is covered.  It will look something like this....

Now, onto the cheesecake. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and the sugar and beat until smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the lemon juice and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the Kit Kat layer, smoothing the top with a spatula or the back of your spoon. Bake for 35-40 mins or until the top is firm but still has a bit of jiggle to it. A toothpick or skewer inserted should come out clean.

Allow the bars to cool completely and refrigerate overnight before cutting.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Raspberry, Nutella and Coconut Brownies

These brownies need absolutely no introduction. They are gooey and fudgey and studded with toasted coconut and juicy raspberries with just the slightest hint of hazelnut from the Nutella.

You don't need any excuses or special occasions to make these.....just do it. It's Wednesday, there is still half a week to go....surely that is reason enough!

For these Raspberry, Nutella and Coconut Brownies you will need

140g butter
90g dark chocolate
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup Nutella
2 eggs
2 tspns vanilla
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
2/3 cup plain flour
2 tbspn cocoa
3/4 cup frozen raspberries

Pre-heat oven to 175C and grease and line a 8 x 8 inch baking tray.

Combine the butter and chocolate in a heat proof jug and heat in 40 second bursts, stirring in between until smooth.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, Nutella and sugar. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and mix to combine.

Add the flour, coconut and cocoa and mix. Gently stir through the raspberries.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40 mins or until set in the centre. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Mr B hasn't even complained about the coconut in them....yet!

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Leftover Easter Egg Blondies

I know....I can practically hear you all saying 'You crazy lady, ain't nobody got leftover easter eggs!' 

But in our house we had a big basket of mini eggs sitting on the kitchen bench over the Easter and now that Easter has been and gone, Mr B is no longer eating them. Which just leaves them (the eggs) and me (the weak choc-oholic with no self control). 

The eggs are obviously aware of my inability to resist them because they call my name every time I walk past. 

So the way I see it, I had two options....eat them all myself OR cook something for Mr B's lunches with them so even though he says he is 'over easter eggs' and refusing to eat them anymore, little does he know, I have smuggled them into his lunch box. 

Cue evil laugh......

Obviously this plan backfired a little when I had to physically leave the room to stop eating these blondies fresh out of the pan, but that's a minor detail. These are gooey and chewy and studded with chocolate chip, creme egg goodness which as far as blondies goes makes them good, like REALLY good. 

Leftover Easter Egg Blondies 

170g butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tspns vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups self raising flour
2 x 135g pkts of mini Cadbury Creme Eggs
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 160C and grease and line a slice tin with baking paper.

Place the butter in a microwave safe jug and heat for 60 seconds on Medium High.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat well.

Add the flour and beat until combined.

Unwrap the mini eggs. I placed mine on a chopping board and gave them a hit with a meat mallet so they were still whole but kinda flattened. It doesn't matter if they fall apart abit though, you just don't want to completely pulverise them or they creamy filling will disappear into your blondie mix.

Stir the chocolate chips and crushed eggs through your blondie batter.

Spoon the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula or spoon. Now the recipe I used for these suggested baking them for no longer than 25 mins but I had to bake mine for 40 mins so I would say check them at 25 mins and if a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the top is set, then they are done, if not, check them at 35 and then 40 mins.

Once you remove your blondies from the oven allow them to cool on the bench for 30 mins. At this stage you can dive right in like I did and pick off all the edges because they are amazing....or you could show some restraint and put them in the fridge for a further 30 mins before you slice them. I definitely recommend this as these blondies are super gooey and chewy and are much easier to slice once you remove them from the fridge...but I also recommend having a sneaky taste before you put them in the fridge too!

Enjoy!!

 

Mrs B xx

Triple Chocolate Jersey Caramel Brownies

It's Sunday afternoon and I am plum tuckered out. It's been a busy weekend so far and Mr B is still outside working on the pergola and I'm still inside plodding through my to-do list. It's not all work though, last night Mr B and I went to a restaurant called Asian Gourmet and had an amazing meal of Lettuce Duck Rolls for entree followed by Sechuan Salt and Pepper Squid for main....hands down, best asian meal I've ever had. And then we went bowling and I actually won....but then I got a bit excited and decided we should play a second game and I lost....obviously I peaked too early. Aside from a lovely night out with Mr B, the boring to-do lists and mundane chores is always broken up by watching our two little mischief makers play in the yard - see how much they've grown!  

The little girl, Blossom is definitely the ring leader....she might look small and innocent, but if there's mischief to be had, she is right there in the thick of it and Loud Mouth is never far behind! Mr B and I are constantly amazed at their antics and can easily sit down and spend hours watching them play.

In the absence of lambs to brighten your day, may I suggest these Triple Chocolate Jersey Caramel Brownies? These are bites of fudgey, chocolatey, caramel heaven and the only issue I had with making them was hiding the jersey caramels from Mr B. For the last few weeks I've been buying a packet of caramels, leaving it in the cupboard and on the weekend when I go to get them for baking, they're gone! So the next week I do the same thing all over again to no avail. This week I tried something completely random and put the jersey caramels in the lolly jar on the kitchen bench in plain sight of everyone.....and you know what, they were still there when I came to use them!

You will need:

125 g butter
120g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tbspn cocoa
1 cup mixed chocolate bits (I used a mixture of milk, white and caramel)
1 cup of jersey caramels, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 180C

Line a slice tin with baking paper.

Place butter and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.

Stir in sugar.

Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture until combined.br /> Add sifted flour and cocoa. Whisk to combine.

Fold in chocolate bits.

Spread mixture into prepared pan and scatter jersey caramels over the top. Press down lightly. Bake for 20 - 30 mins or until top is firm to touch.

Set aside to cool before slicing or eat it straight out of the pan....and say HELLO to delicious-ness

Mrs B xx

Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies

This weekend just gone was one of the best weekends I've had for a long time. OH is working away at the moment and not only was he home for 3 whole days but the weather was simply gorgeous as well. On Friday we picked up some new furniture for our bedroom, posted off all of our wedding invites and went out for a lovely seafood dinner with friends. Then on Saturday we went for a ride up to Meadowbank Dam and sat out on the jetty with our lunch.....


And that night we chilled out on the couch with the world's biggest plate of nachos (which OH washed down with an equally huge glass of buorbon!)


Yesterday we had a bit of a sleep in and spent the day pottering around in the garden before taking my bike out for a quick spin, OH even taught me how to ride the ride on mower and dump the oil out of my bike so it's ready for a service :)

So what better way to top off a beautiful summer's weekend then with these decadent Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies?


You will need:
125g butter
180g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180C / 160°C fan-forced.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Place butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.
Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat in the sugar.
Add eggs and beat until well combined.
Add the flour and cocoa and beat well. Mixture will be fairly thick.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and pour cheesecake mix over. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until top is firm to touch. Set aside to cool.

For the cheesecake mix you will need:

180g cream cheese
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup strawberry topping

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and made the most of the weather!

Em x

Apple and Pecan Blondies

Why you may ask am I up at 8:30am....having been up since 6am baking an apple cake? You may also ask why I was up until nearly midnight last night making a mudcake with buorbon frosting? And whilst your there you may as well ask why I will be up rather late tonight making two versions of my much loved yoghurt cake....well to be honest I'm asking myself the same thing....but all will be revealed...hopefully...in the next few days!

When I first came across this post over at Cookies and Cups I just had to make it. The original recipe had toffee bits in if, but I thought I would try them with crushed pecans instead.

These blondies are delicious, the chunks of apple and pecan are just beautiful and they disappeared in a flash at work yesterday!!


Apple and Pecan Blondies
150g butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tspn vanilla
2 cups plain flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 large apple peeled and diced
1/2 cup pecan pieces and 12 whole pecan halves

Preheat oven to 180C and line and grease a slice tin.

Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mixing until just combined.

Now STIR in the chopped apples and pecan pieces....I tried to mix them in with my electric mixer...turned my back for 5 seconds and when I turned back around I was attacked with bits of flying apple! It wasn't pretty...

Spread the mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the center is set.

And while it cools you can make the brown sugar frosting!

60g butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 cup icing sugar

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

Allow the blondies to cool completely before frosting and slicing.

I topped each slice with one of the pecan halves :)

Now I'm going back to bed...with a warm piece of apple cake and a cup of coffee....

Em x

Cookies and Cream Brownies

One second it's 4pm Friday evening and the weekend lays stretched out ahead of you,m full of possibilities....the next second it's Sunday evening and the weekend has disappeared in the blink of an eye. This weekend has gone especially fast and whilst part of me feels I have accomplished very little, part of me knows the only thing on my to do list that I didn't accomplish was getting a hair cut...and honestly that's not the end of the world. The weekend started on Friday night when OH and I went out for dinner to a restaurant called the Salamanca Beef and Seafood Grill. Neither of us had been there before and it on first glance it was a really nice little restaurant. I ordered a dish called Chicken Havarti which was chicken breast stuffed with spinach, semi dried tomato, havarti cheese and dried apricots. The apricots were actually a great addition to the dish, the flavour combination between the sweet apricots and the tart tomatoes was spot on :) Meanwhile OH was in heaven, he ordered a 3-tier Beef and Seafood Grill....which (obviously) was 3 tiers of beef and seafood goodness - the bottom tier was a huge bit of steak served on kumara mash with pepper sauce, the 2nd tier consisted of smoked salmon, smoked prawns, marinated octopus, smoked blue eye and anti pasto vegetables and the top tier was beer battered chips, battered prawns, scallops, calamari rings and blue eye and when they brought it out of the kitchen, the whole restaurant stopped to check it out...it did look very impressive! OH managed to demolish the lot, suitably impressed by everything on the plate...and then proceeded to come home and have a big bowl of ice cream....I'm really not sure where he puts it all!!

The on Saturday morning, OH went to work at 6am so I enjoyed having the bed to myself and slept in for awhile. It wasn't long though before I braved the cold and went to meet Ali and Allie for our wedding make up trials - we don't scrub up too bad hey!!


Seeing as we looked so gorgeous, we took ourselves out for lunch to a cafe called Salt. I had to have my favourite - Crusty sour dough bruschetta topped with pan-fried eggplant, zucchini, spinach, pesto and ricotta....yum yum yum!! Although Ali had pesto scrambled eggs with fried tomatoes on fried pita bread which smelt devine, I might have to try that next time....although I said that last time, but the bruschetta has a hold on me!!

Then today I thought I better do some baking for OH's lunches seeing as we have been producing a phenomenal amount of cupcakes and he hasn't been getting any of them! OH was particularly fond of the cookies and cream frosting I have been making for the cupcakes so I tried to think of a way I could incorporate that into his lunches....and what better way then with a gooey chocolatey brownie! I was just going to top the brownies with the frosting but OH suggested I sandwich it between the brownies to make it more lunch box friendly.


I used my favourite brownie recipe....

For these you need:
125g butter
180g milk chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Place butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.
Stir in sugar.
Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture until combined.
Add sifted flour and cocoa. Whisk to combine.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until top is firm to touch. Set aside to cool.

For the frosting you will need:
125g butter (at room temperature)
2-3 cups of icing sugar
5 oreo biscuits (crushed)

Combine the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium high speed until well combined. You may need to add more icing sugar to get a nice thick consistency.
Stir through the crushed oreos.

When the brownies are nice and cool cut into squares.
Cut each square in half through the middle. Spread one half with the frosting and sandwich together with the other half.


You will hate me for this....they are just so damn good!!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

I am waiting for my vegie burger and home made chips to cook...and I may even get into bed to eat them...it's just too cold!!

Em x

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

At work yesterday we hosted an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea event to raise money for the cancer council. The ladies at work did an amazing job, so good in fact we had enough food left over to do it all again today! We had a fantastic vartiety too, from fresh fruit and vegies, bruschetta, biscuits, cheese and dip, lemon cakes, ice cream cakes, coffee streudels and my contribution - Mini Sponge Cakes with Lemon Cream Filling and Strawberry Jam Blondies




For the Mini Sponge Cakes with Lemon Cream Filling, I used the Lemon Cream Filled Sponge from the Women's Weekly Card File. I thought the indivual cakes would be easier to serve up then the large cake and I loved the look of it on the card.


This was the finished product :)


And these were the Strawberry Jam Blondies - so soft and chewy and the jam sort of caramelizes on the top making them to die for!!


For these delicious creations you will need:

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
250g butter
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry jam (or jam of your choice)
50g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C and line a slice pan.
Melt butter and sugar together, either in the microwave or on the stove top. Quickly whisk eggs and vanilla into butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in flour, baking powder and chocolate chips.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Spoon jam over batter and then swirl into batter with a butter knife or skewer to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center of pan. Cool before cutting into squares and serving.

So easy yet so very very good!!

Ohhh and at the hairdressers on Tuesday they straightened my hair....my thick, painful, frizzy mop is dead flat straight....I nearly proposed to my hairdresser on the spot...every day it amazes me even more, I even walked in the wind today and it remained straight and flawless....and it's so versatile, no longer am I confined to up and back or well up and back, I can wear it up or out or however the hell I want! So that confirms it, I'm investing in a good quality hair straightener! Here let me show you a picture :)



Happy Friday!!

Em x

Jaffa Brownies and Apricot Oat Slice

So today started with a leisurely cup of tea and a bowl of honey toasted muesli in bed while I browsed through some recipe books and tried to figure out what OH and I would have for tea this week. Now have a look at the photo right, the cereal is in a relatively small bowl and that is what came in one of those sample packs...I mean I know they come portion sized and blah blah blah but I very nearly cried when I tipped that into my bowl...BUT I ate it slow and with a teaspoon and wouldn't you know it, it was delicious and kept me full well past lunch time!

Anyway I did my groceries and when I got home I decided to make some jaffa brownies for Allie, she gets back from Melbourne tonight and I have missed her this weekend! I haven't made Jaffa Brownies before but I made my favourite brownie recipe and added a bag of frozen jaffas before it went in the oven. I confess I tried one (can't run the risk of giving bad brownies away!) and they are awesome, if you love choc - orange flavoured stuff then you need to try these!

Jaffa Brownies

For these you need:
125g butter
180g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
250g bag of Jaffas

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Place butter and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.
Stir in sugar.
Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture until combined.
Add sifted flour and cocoa. Whisk to combine.
Fold in jaffas.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until top is firm to touch.
Set aside to cool before slicing.

You may have seen my choc caramel brownies in other posts - for those you simply substitute a chopped up 220g block of frozen caramello chocolate for the jaffas!

A few weeks ago for Dad's bday you may remember I made some Cranberry, Blueberry and Honey Oat Bars, they were pretty damn good, but I wanted to see if I could make something a bit softer. I found a recipe for Apricot Oat Slice and decided to give it a go.


About half way through I got a bit worried because it has an egg and a bit of water, but no milk or butter in the recipe. I ended up adding a splash of milk just to moisten the mix a bit, but otherwise left it as it was. The end result was fantastic. A soft apricot and sultana slice that was not too cakey, yet not too solid, just lovely and soft and chewy. I will definetly be trying it again.

For this one you need:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp honey (might be easier to melt in the microwave first)
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
About 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sultanas
1 cup dried apricots diced, soaked in water for an hr then drained - reserve 2 tbspns of water to add to mixture
extra desiccated coconut for coating

Pre-heat oven to 160C fan forced.
Combine plain flour, baking powder, sugar, coconut and oats in a bowl.
Add egg, honey, milk, apricots, sultanas and water. Mix to combine. If you need to add more milk then do so.
Place the mixture in a lined slice tray and sprinkle the top with coconut.
Bake for around 15mins.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Now that I've gardened, vaccumed, washed and baked I'm kicking back on the couch with a cup of tea. There is even a Zucchini, Mushroom and Creamy Chicken Pie waiting to go in the oven when OH gets home (more on the pie later in the week!).

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Em x