Again, Please: Mud Pie Mojo Brownies

Anything that starts out with this amount of butter has to be good!

Confession: when I was in college, I worked at a combination of a snow cone place, a local burrito place (think Chipotle but better), Cold Stone Creamery, and the center for student athletes.  Today we’re going to briefly discuss my 2 whole months at Cold Stone.  That was one of those jobs where I needed some extra cash and wasn’t taking summer school classes, so my friends got me a job there.  It was also one of those jobs where 2 whole months was enough time to gain 10 pounds from free ice cream.  C’est la vie, right?

Anyway, while I was there I branched out from my ice cream safety zone and tried the Mud Pie Mojo creation.  It’s coffee ice cream, peanut butter, Orea, roasted almonds, and fudge.  OH THE FUDGE! It has been a while since that creation has graced my lips, but yesterday afternoon I was struck by brilliant creativity.  BROWNIES a la MUD PIE MOJO! Of course!  After getting home from the Farmer’s Market and salad dinner I immediately set to work.

First things first, you have to know that the best brownie recipe from cocoa powder is Nestle’s Chewy Cocoa Brownie recipe that can be found on the back of their cocoa.  [I can’t link back to it since I can’t find it on their website.]  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

First you combine the melted butter and sugar.  Then you die and go to heaven because for a split second you get the intense smell of melted butter and sugar.  When you come to your senses add in the 2 eggs:

Plus some unpictured water and vanilla.  The water is what really helps these come out well at the high altitudes.  Now we have the dry ingredients.  I’ll admit, I don’t always sift my flour for everything I make.  BUT YOU MUST ALWAYS SIFT THE COCOA POWDER. Trust me, no one likes biting into a ball of bitter cocoa powder when they’re expecting sugary goodness.  Dump it in with the wet ingredients and mix until JUST combined.

Next line up the usual Mud Pie Mojo suspects. I used 1 cup crushed Oreos, 1 cup of the peanut butter chips, and 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

Mmmmmmmmm, peanut butter chips…

One big, happy family:

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Please guys, promise me you won’t overbake these.  That would kill my soul.

Now for the frosting.  A while back Jessica posted a recipe for Cappuccino Brownies.  I (obviously) promptly made them and fell madly in love with them.  So when it came to incorporating coffee flavor into this Mud Pie Mojo Brownie recipe, I knew I had to use the Cappuccino icing!

First soften 2 sticks of butter.  What?  I never said this recipe was HEALTHY Then sift together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and instant coffee powder.  Add the vanilla.  Turn on your stand mixer and walk away.  You have better things to worry about, like toasting sliced almonds.  I used about 1/2 a cup of sliced almonds.  Now to do this you must have patience and you must pay attention. Add the almonds to a cold, dry skillet.  Over VERY LOW HEAT start to warm them, flipping ever minute or so.  You don’t want them to brown, but you want to take them off the heat when you start to smell them toasting.  Immediately put onto a cold plate to stop the toasting process.

By this time your frosting should look like this:

Once the brownies are completely cool, spread the frosting evenly on top.  Once the almonds are completely cool, sprinkle them on top.

I’d be lying if i said I didn’t have one of these for breakfast already.  Granted, that’s really enough sugar to last me the rest of the day, but I liked it.  Besides, I’m planning on roasting broccoli in the toasted oven at work later.

Like I said, it’s all about balance!

MUD PIE MOJO BROWNIES (using Nestle’s Chewy Cocoa Brownie recipe for the base)

• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) melted butter
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup crushed Oreo cookies
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

The directions are in the above post, but basically combine the wet ingredients, sift the dry ingredients, mix together.  Add the Oreos, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and fold in.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Let cool completely before frosting.

CAPPUCCINO FROSTING (from Cappuccino Brownies by How Sweet Eats)

• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 1 lb powdered sugar (or more if you want it thicker)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter in an electric mixer. Add sugar, cocoa, and coffee gradually, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in vanilla extract. If frosting is too thick, add milk in 1 tablespoon increments to thin it out. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Spread on brownies once they have cooled.

You guys are beautiful

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Based on the fact that I’m exhausted and I think we all could use a little more chocolate in our lives, I decided to re-post one of my favorite brownie recipes of all time.  Please, do yourself a favor and go make these now.  Also, please make some for me and send them STAT.

Much love,

Heather 🙂