Thursday, January 27, 2011

Layered

I think there are layers to most things in life.  Some layers are pleasant, some are not but they all work together to create the entire experience.  My call in the NICU was a hard one last night.  We had two babies to die, I had to deal with upset parents (thankfully able to answer their questions and appease them), and admitted 3 babies...one born at 2am, meaning that I finished everything at 5:45am...no sleep for me.  But this is part of my job and as hard as that "layer" of it is, I love it and am thankful for everything I learn.  I only hope that I can display love and grace to those I come in contact with when the "layer" they are in is one of the hard ones.

I made this dessert a while back when I was in the ER.  To me, the more pleasing layer is the shortbread layer.  There is just something I love about a flaky and simply tasting shortbread.  However, the addition of the chocolate layer that is fudgy complements the flakiness of the shortbread in a delightful way.  These layers, I say, go quite well together!  I did change the recipe a bit as I didn't use the candycorn pieces and used a cake mix instead of the brownie mix, though I cannot remember EXACTLY what I did.  I know that I used 2 eggs and maybe 1/2 cup oil - simply less liquid than would be used for a cake.  The batter LOOKED like a brownie mix!  This worked quite well; so, if you don't have a brownie mix, use a cake mix.  Either way, this is a great treat!

And check out other great sweet treats at Lisa's blog!

Shortbread Candy Corn Kissed Brownies adapte from Picky Palate

1 chocolate cake mix (I used sugar free) or a 13X9 brownie mix (made to package instructions)
2 sticks softened butter
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 3/4 Cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, set batter aside. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until creamy and light. Slowly add flour and salt until combined. Press shortbread dough into a 11×7 inch baking dish lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Pour brownie batter evenly over the shortbread crust. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.  Enjoy!



2. Place remaining kisses in double broiler to melt. Spread melted chocolate over brownies, sprinkle if desired and serve.



12 brownies

9 comments:

Lisa said...

Those bars are truly the best of both worlds, cookie and brownie. It looks like they came out great and I have no doubt that they were eaten up in no time. I have a linky party on my blog every week called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by this weekend and link this up.

The JR said...

That's sad about the babies.

Unknown said...

Lisa - I'd love to! Will try to remember. :-)

JR - It is very sad.

ann said...

These look fantastic. very different!

Abby said...

These do sound great! I love brownies and cookies but have never combined them! I think it is time that changed!

Chels/Catz in the Kitchen said...

These look so delicious! I'm a brownie person and I think I might just have to try and make these :)

So sorry to hear about the loss of the babies. :( My heart aches for the parents.

Amy said...

Lovely layers of sweetness! I want a big piece right now!

Lisa said...

Thanks so much for linking this up to Sweets for a Saturday. I hope you'll be able to join me again next week.

Vickie said...

I think you handle those layers beautiful. You are a wonderful layer of our life!! Plus these cookie/brownies look toooooo good.