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Thursday, August 21, 2014

Red Velvet Brownies

a little underdone, but delicious

My neighbor around the block who takes my garbage to the road has a religious group meet at his house. They are mostly young people and are not associated with any church. I have made several sheet cakes from mixes for them. One time I mentioned something about brownies or cookies or something. He said, "We are more brownie or cookie people than cake people." A gentle hint? Yes.

Since I had all these free cake mixes that I was going to give away, I decided to look for a way to turn them into brownies. My mood and back were in no mood to make cookies from the cake mix like I have done in the far past.

The brownie above was cooked in a cup and accidentally taken out of the oven too early. So, the bottom you see is a little moist. Okay, it was gooey. Theirs are done.

 


I used a Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix.
Why not?
 
Recipe for brownies from any cake mix:
 
Preheat oven:350 F
 
Place in bowl:
box of cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup water
 
Beat well. Put into 9x13 inch pan (or whatever size you prefer).
Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (I did not do this).
 
Could anything be easier? There are many recipes online to make brownies from cake mix. However, some of them have a dozen more ingredients. Why bother? I wanted simple. I am quite sure a cup full or maybe less of any add-ins would work.
 
Now, don't put the box in the bowl like I said. Empty the ingredients into the bowl.
 
I took the brownies out of the oven after I turned off the oven. I went straight out the door and drove to his house. No, no frosting since I cannot afford frosting today and did not want to stand and make frosting. The girl who took these looked happy.
 
I have a white cake mix that is going to get some special add-ins, just not sure what. A German Chocolate cake mix will get the icing on the brownies. The Double Fudge cake mix brownies will probably stay here.
 
A bunch of young people were painting his porch! I will take a picture because it is striking.
 
Your turn
Have you ever had Red Velvet brownies? Do you make cookies from cake mix?

 

13 comments:

  1. I"m a devoted brownie (with walnuts!) fan. It's my favorite.

    If I have to do cookies for a group, I have a recipe that makes bar cookies from cake mix:

    Chocolate-Caramel Bars
    Ingredients
    1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ devil's food cake mix
    2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
    1 egg
    2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
    1 bag (14 oz) caramels, unwrapped
    1/4 cup milk
    1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
    1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired

    Directions
    Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Generously grease or spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan. In large bowl, beat cake mix, butter and egg with electric mixer on low speed until well mixed.

    Stir in oats until crumbly (use fingers if necessary). Reserve 1 cup cake mixture. Press remaining mixture in pan (use plastic wrap or waxed paper to press mixture if it is sticky).

    In heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat caramels and milk over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Pour over chocolate layer in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans. Crumble reserved cake mixture into small pieces; sprinkle over top.

    Bake 24 to 29 minutes or until caramel bubbles along edges and cake mixture on top appears crisp and dry. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered.

    (I feel faint...yummmmm)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cherdo,
      So do I. Your recipe sounds delicious. It is too long for me to stand or mix, plus expensive! Of course, if I were at your place and YOU made these, I would devour them.
      Thanks!

      Delete
    2. Get on the road, Linda... I'll whip 'em up!

      Delete
    3. Cherdo,
      Putting on my shoes!

      Delete
  2. How generous.
    And no, I have never used a cake mix for anything. A from scratch girl from way back. Which is probably part of the reason I hardly ever bake these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brownies from scratch.... I'm going to have to look into that!!

      Delete
  3. EC,
    I always baked everything from scratch...and then...life happened. I don't ever use the cake mixes, it seems. I do use brownie mixes, just because. But, this life is new to me. Standing to get out, measure and mix would mean I never bake. My Christmas cakes and pies are from scratch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have the book sent me to use cake mixes as the beginning of wonderful cakes and desserts. I do use that when I can stand and intend to use it in the future.

      Delete
  4. I just tried to make brownies from a brownie mix. It failed. It came out "cake-like" and that was NOT what I was in the mood for. I wanted gooey brownies. So I was very disappointed. I think the egg was too big, which should never be a bad thing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FB,
      Did the box say "fudge brownies?" If not, you may have gotten "cake" brownies. The egg is not the problem here. I, like you love fudge brownies. Otherwise, what's the point?

      Delete
  5. We use no mixes at all, and everything we made is either partly or totally a mixture of whole grains with maybe a little unbleached wheat flour to achieve the desired texture. We never make cakes, but Peggy bakes cookies; I bake crackers, biscuits, cornbreads, and yeast breads; and we work together on pies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Snowbrush,
      Until about three years ago, I never used a mix. But, the only cake I ever baked was a chocolate pound cake at Thanksgiving and Christmas. You have quite a repertoire of baked goods. Now, I want a peach pie. I often add different good items to cookies. But, standing for a cookie session is too much.

      Delete
  6. I have never made brownies from a box but that sounds like something right up my alley. Thank you!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.