Brownie Bites - and a giveaway (finally!)

Happy November!

I've got to admit that I was a little stressed before last week's elections, which is a large part of why I didn't post last week. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the world, and wasn't sure how to either put that into words or do something about it.

My first thought, obviously, was baking, but that only gets you so far. (Even when it turns out as adorable as this.)

I mean... There's just *so* much going on that it's hard to focus on anything. So I took some time to kind of unplug for a couple of evenings, and came up with a plan that combines baking, that giveaway I keep thinking about, *and* something that we can all do. 

Let me explain: 

So, that makes sense, right? Beginning with this post, each of this month's blog posts will include not only a recipe but also a link to a GoFundMe page that is not mine, but that I've heard of through one way or another. And - in the week following the posting (so, from today - 11/10 - through next week's post on 11/16 or 11/17, for instance), each person who shares the blog post with that week's GoFundMe page in it will be entered into a drawing for the chance to receive a plate of cookies in the mail from me.*

With that in mind, in case you're not interested in the Brownie Bites, and want to cut to the chase with Kara's GoFundMe page, the link is here: Help Kara Walk Again.

Remember: Every time you share this blog post via social media in some way that I can be notified - by forwarding my original Facebook post, Tweet, or Instagram image related to it, for instance - you'll be entered into this week's drawing for a shipment of cookies. (If you share this directly from the blog, I'm not sure that I can track it. So maybe just put a message at the bottom letting me know you did.)*

Now, to the Brownie Bites. 

I started making these mini brownies a number of years ago. I was trying to figure out a "tidy" way to serve brownies. And this was - oddly enough - before all of the grocery stores had started putting out mini desserts. So it seemed really revolutionary to me. And - even though they're kind of omnipresent these days, I still really like them. 

You can make them from scratch (like from the 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook): 

Or use a mix (my favorite is the Ghirardelli mix you can get at Costco): 

Or you could even just buy mini brownies from your local grocery store. 

If you're baking your own, I highly recommend not using muffin papers, but instead using a spray that has some kind of flour-type ingredient in it. I really like this one: 

And, to make them more interesting, you can add some fun frosting. I've been in kind of a cream cheese frosting mood, lately, so I did some online research and found out that there are basically four ingredients in a chocolate cream cheese frosting: cream cheese (duh), butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa. 

Amounts varied across all of the recipes I looked at, so I went with my gut and worked toward what felt good - both from a recipe standpoint and from an actual "feel"/texture standpoint. 

I started with 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and 4 ounces of softened butter. I creamed those together...

Then I added a half cup of cocoa. 

I added this before the powdered sugar because I knew I wanted to have that much cocoa, and I wanted to be able to adjust the density of the frosting by using more or less powdered sugar - not more or less cocoa. 

Next came the powdered sugar. This was a little bit of a guessing game, because I wanted to be able to pipe the frosting, so I didn't want it too stiff. But I also wanted it to hold up and not just ooze everywhere. 

The initial mixing was not looking promising - I think the dairy ingredients weren't warm enough.

I worked my way up to two cups of powdered sugar. This gave me an okay consistency, and yet the frosting was still a little tart from the cream cheese. 

Christopher did a quick taste test for me at this point, and because the frosting was a little "flat" - as well as being just a bit grainy - we reached for half a teaspoon of an old standby:

Which, after a good beating (I think I should have used a mixer, honestly), gave us this silky consistency:

Next step: Getting the frosting onto the brownie bites. 

For this, I turned to one of my oldest, best, kitchen friends: the Mirro Decorating kit and its 6 possible decorating tips. 

I chose the one in the upper left, because it is the larger of the two star tips, and I wanted to put a decent amount on each brownie.

I have no action shots of filling the tube or putting the frosting on the brownies, in part because I was using both hands to do each of those things. These are pretty basic steps, though. You put the frosting in through the plunger end, and then you use the plunger to extrude (yeah - probably should have thought of a better-sounding word for that, sorry) the frosting. Each filling of it probably frosted about 8-10 brownies. 

Here's the only shot that I have from that process:

Yeah. I said the gun made it easy - I didn't say I was perfectly tidy!

And, when all was said and done, that batch of frosting covered about 6 dozen mini-muffin-sized brownie bites (in the span of about 10 minutes - not including prior baking time, obviously).

At this point, I feel that I should remind you that there is a giveaway going on but - more importantly - for the rest of the month I'll be sharing some important fundraisers that you can get involved in. Remember: You don't need to make a donation to be included in each week's giveaway drawing, you just need to share this post in a way that I can know about it.

And, again, this is the GoFundMe page for this week, and you can get to it via the link in the caption:

Help Kara Walk Again

Kara is a friend of mine from college whose calling in life is to serve others through nursing - but also through just being a really good person. She's the kind of person who learns a foreign language just so she can speak to an elderly patient who doesn't know English. She honestly feels bad when she doesn't donate to someone asking for help on the street. And she just wants to be able to afford surgery on her hip so that she can walk without pain so that she can continue to lead her best life. (Her full story is on the GoFundMe page: Help Kara Walk Again.)

Donate if you can. Share whether you can donate or not. (And if you share via my social media, that's what'll get you into my giveaway drawing.)

(Fair warning: If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know that I'm not great with tech. So please be as obvious as possible when sharing. If you share directly from my Facebook feed, tweet, or Instagram posting, I should be able to tell, but feel free to tag me in those shares just to be sure. And if you share directly through Blogger, just let me know so that I can make note.)*

Did they taste as good as they look?

I hope you're staying warm and cozy wherever you are - and thanks for helping to spread the word for Kara's sake!

Finally an excuse to use these tiny sauce bowls for baked goods!

-----

*Disclaimer: I'll be trying to draw a winner each week before the next post goes up. Everyone who shares the post in a way that I can track it (or who lets me know that it's being shared) will be entered into the drawing for the plate of cookies (shipping within the US, only). One entry per share, so feel free to share multiple times. No extra entries for making a donation to the fundraising pages, but don't let that stop you.