Peanut Butter Ball Brownies

We always made peanut butter balls growing up and they were so good! 

They also took a little bit of time standing over the stove dipping each one in chocolate.

 This recipe is nice because it takes a little time but you don't have to stand over the stove dipping each ball. 

I made my favorite brownies (boxed will do just fine) and then added 

the peanut butter ball topping:

1 stick butter soft/partially melted

about 1 cup peanut butter

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix these together and spread on cooled brownies. 

**Some people would add crushed graham crackers to the peanut butter mix for texture, 

I don't because I love the creaminess of this recipe!

Topping:

Then I melted a bag of chocolate chips (any kind, milk, semi-sweet, dark, etc.) I used dark

with about 3-4 Tbls. butter 

and about 3-4 Tbls. of milk

Gently spread chocolate over peanut butter mix and let set up in refrigerator. 

Cut into 1" bites and serve on mini cupcake liners for a sweet treat. 

Peppermint Swirl Cupcakes

These were fun, cute and delicious! These were made with a moist vanilla cake recipe from The Cake Boss' cook book. The frosting was a yummy experiment. I remembered always loving those homemade butter-mints you'd get at weddings or your grandma's, so I tried to make a frosting with the same flavor, mission accomplished! I found a gingerbread man chocolate mold at Baker's C&C and created the peppermint swirl with this technique. I used disposable bags just to make it easier. 

Butter-Mint Frosting:

2 sticks butter softenend

5+ C powdered sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla

1/4 -1/2 tsp peppermint extract

up to 1/4 C milk

Cream butter & flavoring. Add sugar 1 cup at a time, thinning with milk as needed, always adding sugar last! Whip it with your mixer, and whip it good! Lots of air will make the frosting light. Enjoy :)