Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Brownies

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What happens when you combine two of the richest, most decadent desserts? You get Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Brownies.

What happens when you combine two of the richest, most decadent desserts? You get Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Brownies.

When I set out to use up the flat of strawberries in my fridge, I knew at least one of my recipes had to include chocolate. Chocolate-covered strawberries have to be one of my all-time favorite treats. They’re seriously the way to my heart. Posting a “recipe” for those would be way too boring, though, so I decided to take the concept and use it to top my homemade brownies.

My original brownie recipe has chocolate chips thrown in, but I skipped those in this version. Instead, I melted a few cups of them to spread over the sliced strawberries on top. I thought my homemade brownies couldn’t get any better, and I thought I’d never top chocolate-covered strawberries, but then I made Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Brownies.

I might as well stop now, y’all. I don’t think I’ll top this one.

What happens when you combine two of the richest, most decadent desserts? You get Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Brownies.

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Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

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Put the store-bought stuff down; homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is surprisingly easy and tastes 100 times better than those other options.

Put the store-bought stuff down; homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is surprisingly easy and tastes 100 times better than those other options.

Can I make a confession?

I usually use boxed cake mixes. I know, I know. I’m breaking all kinds of food blogger commandments. You know what, though? No one notices. Part of that is because it’s completely possible to make moist, delicious cakes and cupcakes from a box. Mostly, though, I think it’s because people couldn’t care less what the cake part is like when it’s topped with homemade frosting.

As okay as I am with boxed mixes, I am absolutely not okay with canned frosting; you’ve got to make your own. It isn’t that difficult- it’s way easier than from-scratch cake- and there’s no comparison flavor-wise. Trust me, you’ll be a dessert hero when you present anything topped with this homemade chocolate buttercream frosting.

The secret to this frosting is the way it’s finished. After all the ingredients are added, you turn up the mixer and let it work its magic. The beaters will whip air into the frosting, lightening the color and giving you the fluffiest buttercream you can imagine.

Put the store-bought stuff down; homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is surprisingly easy and tastes 100 times better than those other options.

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Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits. 

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

I’m teaching English for the first time this year. Have I mentioned that on the blog yet? Though my degree is in business, I’m doing my best to teach my freshmen the ins and outs of symbolism, grammar, and whatever else I’m supposed to be covering.

One of the best parts about this semester is that I get to teach To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s one of my all-time favorite books so, as you can imagine, I’m having a blast reading it with my English I Accelerated students. Many of my students are loving it, too. They’re loving it so much they rocked our first test and, as promised, I baked them a treat to celebrate.

I debated what to make them. A lot of the teenagers I know don’t have the most adventurous palates, so I settled on these toffee chocolate chip cookies. You can’t go wrong with a good chocolate chip cookie, especially if you know the right tricks. I did want to make them a little more special, though. I tossed in a bag of toffee bits and the end result was a cookie loaded with semi-sweet chocolate and chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

They received rave reviews.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

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Triple Chocolate Frosted Brownies

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A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

I have a recipe for double chocolate brownies. They’re pretty much everything you could want in a brownie: rich, fudgy, and studded with chocolate chips. They’ve got that delectably chewy crust. I didn’t think the recipe could get much better, but then I added homemade buttercream and turned them into triple chocolate frosted brownies.

My homemade chocolate buttercream was the perfect addition to a recipe I didn’t think could get any better. The frosting, which is the same one you’ll find on my triple chocolate cupcakes,  is whipped for several minutes until it’s light and fluffy. On their own, the brownies are a delightful treat; with the addition of the frosting, they become a mouthwatering dessert you’ll be asked to make again and again.

A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

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No-Bake Triple Chocolate Breakfast Cookies

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Packed with flavor and with surprisingly healthy ingredients, no-bake triple chocolate breakfast cookies are a tasty alternative to a typical boring breakfast.

Packed with flavor and surprisingly healthy ingredients, no-bake triple chocolate breakfast cookies are a tasty alternative to a typical boring breakfast.

I’m always on the hunt for new and delicious easy breakfast ideas. More often than not, I make a smoothie for breakfast, but I sometimes go with overnight oats or some sort of make-ahead recipe like these no-bake triple chocolate breakfast cookies.

These cookies are deceptively delicious. My kids and my husband, who all tend to turn up their noses at anything healthy, dug in like they were eating dessert. I had to quickly transfer the cookies to a plastic container and hide it in the fridge so we’d actually have some left over for breakfast.

Don’t sweat it if you and your crew can’t wait until breakfast; these guys are perfect for snacking, too!

Packed with flavor and with surprisingly healthy ingredients, no-bake triple chocolate breakfast cookies are a tasty alternative to a typical boring breakfast.

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Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

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Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

I signed up to bring cupcakes to a baby shower at church a couple weeks ago. I knew right away I wanted to make something decadent and over the top, something the expectant mom would love to indulge in. I knew it had to be these triple chocolate cupcakes.

To say they were a hit would be an understatement. And seriously, how could they not be? That moist cupcake? That smooth ganache? That rich and fluffy homemade buttercream? These guys are literally one of the best things you’ll eat.

Don’t be intimidated by the multiple steps or the long list of ingredients. The cupcakes themselves are made with a box mix, and then enhanced with a few extra ingredients. The ganache takes only a few minutes to make and is so worth it. The ridiculously light frosting is the perfect topping.

Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

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Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars

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Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is downright irresistible. At least it is to J and me and, based on the number of people who love store-bought peanut butter cups, we’re just two of millions. I started making a homemade version several years ago. They were rich and smooth and one of the best things we’d ever eaten. Making them, drizzling the melted chocolate into individual muffin liners, was a little tedious, though.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

More than a year ago, I had the brilliant idea to make the recipe into bars, to skip the cupcake liners and use a sheet pan instead. Best. Idea. Ever. Now, a recipe that was already impossible to resist is also sinfully simple to make. These homemade peanut butter cup bars are just as good as the homemade peanut butter cups, but they come together so much more quickly. Bonus: they’re gluten free!

 

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

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Chocolate Caramel Lava Cakes

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Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

I say this all the time, but it bears repeating: we don’t keep a lot of junk food in the house. I don’t buy cookies or cakes or ice cream for a couple reasons. Mostly because I’ll eat it if we have it, and we try to be healthier than that. The other reason, though, is I’m kind of a food snob. When you know how to make perfect chocolate chip cookies from scratch, the store bought kind no longer cuts it.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Here’s the problem: I love to bake. So even though we don’t usually have a pint of ice cream in the freezer or a package of cookies in the cupboard, I have no qualms about whipping up a dessert treat for J and I. Because I love to be in the kitchen, I don’t give a second thought to making a batch of cookies or, in the case of these chocolate caramel lava cakes, experimenting with a new recipe.

Baking is my idea of fun and these individual cakes are my idea of a heaven. The outside is just as baked and cake-like as you’d expect, but the inside… the inside combines two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and caramel, in a warm, melted mass of richness. The recipe takes less than 30 minutes start to finish and is the perfect indulgent treat for any night of the week.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

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Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #mixinmoments #CollectiveBias

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

A few months ago, I took my decadent double chocolate brownie recipe and, because I could, added a homemade caramel topping. The result was out of this world, but it was a fairly time consuming process; I essentially made two different recipes from scratch. It was worth it, but it wasn’t something I typically have time to reproduce.

That’s why, when I found these Nestle Toll House Baking Mixes at Walmart, I knew immediately what I would create. The bars are awesome on their own. You get the coveted chewiness of a perfect chocolate chip cookie in a fraction of the time it would take you to roll out individual balls of dough, but you also get the option to customize them in a zillion different, but equally delicious, ways.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

Don’t let the homemade caramel part fool you; this recipe is easy. Just add your caramels and your cream to a bowl and microwave until you have a smooth mixture. Spread it over the cooled bars and you’re done. The hardest part about making these salted caramel cookie bars? Waiting for the caramel to set up before you dig in.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

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S’mores Fudge Bars

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It doesn’t get more rich or decadent than these s’mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

I have no idea how many s’mores recipes I’ve pinned since the invite-only days of Pinterest, but it’s been a lot. A lot. The combination of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate is one of my favorites, and I’ll pretty much pin anything that promises to deliver that combo in a new and exciting form.

It doesn't get more rich or decadent than these s'mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

I’ve made a startlingly small number of those recipes, though. I don’t often buy marshmallows- probably because then I’d make all the recipes. Many of the recipes call for marshmallow fluff or milk chocolate, two other ingredients I don’t usually have on hand. My most recent pregnancy craving, in addition to potatoes in any form, has been s’mores, though, so I was super grateful when the stars aligned to bring me this s’mores fudge bars recipe because I actually had the ingredients for it.

Well, I didn’t really have all the ingredients, but I had enough to change it up and create my own version which, if I do say so myself, is really freaking good. The graham cracker crust is really straightforward: graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. The fudge part is where things get interesting: sweetened condensed milk is melted together with semisweet chocolate chips for a rich, smooth layer that’s reminiscent of milk chocolate. The whole thing is topped with marshmallows that get perfectly toasted and gooey in the oven.

It doesn't get more rich or decadent than these s'mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

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