Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Brownie Balls, the better Cake Ball And winner announced

I cannot even tell you how good these are.  And don't judge by the picture, they are yummy.  Oh and those are my moms chocolate chip cookies, also really good.
Okay so today we are going to take a look at the brownie ball.  Way back when I first started making cake balls, I was looking for different things to make.  This was way before I really got into reading blogs.  One of the things I though up was brownie balls.  And yes I totally know that I am probably not the first, but I was the first of my friends, so that totally counts!

So the first time I tried and brought them to work I got a lot of compliments, they were amazing.  If I do say so myself.  People, and I, both agreed that they were richer, more sophisticated in taste and just perfect.  I know, that sounds stupid, but it's hard to describe how good they are.

So today, since I had to make a bunch for my moms annual party, I thought I would share with you how I make mine. 

To start, as always we are using a mix.  There are two reasons, one, making brownies from scratch to just crumble up and destroy seems wrong. And two, the box mixes are just way easier.  So there you go, scientific proof as to why box mix is better.

I used four boxes, if you could not tell.  I got just over 10 dozen.  And yes I ate some myself.
So the box mixes we have here make a 8x8 pan of brownies, which does not give you a lot of stuff to work with.  In the states I think they have a family size box or something, I so want that here!  Anyway, I usually remedy that by making two box mixes in one 9x13 pan.  That gets me about 4-5 dozen balls.  

So to start, when buying a mix, I always get the one with the frosting. This way I don't need to buy frosting alone and it just makes life easier.

So make your brownies according to the box, just use two boxes and use the 9x13 pan.  Bake  them until they are almost done, you know, putting a tooth pick in and having a bit of crumbs is good.  You don't want a dry brownie.  Once they are baked, cool them fully. I was once in a rush and did not fully cool them and they mixed up without any frosting as they were so moist.  Then once I left them over night, the next day the balls were hard as rocks.  I had to microwave them to soften them then mix them with frosting.  So trust me, cool them.  Put the whole darn pan in the fridge if you need to.
It is really hard to not eat spoon fulls of this while I scoop it out.
Once you have them cooled, use a spoon or your hands or whatever to scoop them into your mixing bowl.  Now brownies make a very thick dough when mixed with icing, so I beg of you, use a kitchen aid or food processor or something.  Trust me.
This is the left over crispy bits, but since I hate crispy brownies  I never eat it. I know, it's a waste.
So once you have scooped all the brownie out, leaving any really crispy bits of brownie in the pan, you are ready to go.  I find that one pouch of frosting works perfectly for each double batch of brownies.  I just dump it in and let the kitchen aid mix it all up.  Then I just scoop out the balls into a parchment paper lined cake pan and put them in the fridge.  I do not roll them, as they are sticky.  I leave them for at least 30 minutes, then pull them out of the fridge and roll them into nice ball shapes.  Then back into the fridge for a few hours, or the freezer for about 20 minutes.
And it looks gross when all mixed up, but man is it thick.  I have broken spatulas before, so use a super strong one.
I love the rich chocolate of these, and some people may like to dip them in white or dark chocolate.  But since I hate dark chocolate more then laundry, I won't use it. I also hate white chocolate and if these are for me, I use what I like.  So just melt you chocolate of choice, mine being candy coating, and dip all of the brownie balls and place them on wax paper to dry.  You can use sprinkles to decorate them, but I wanted the classic look, so I just drizzled white chocolate over them.  These freeze really well, the only issue is they get some condensation on them when they thaw out, but you know, it won't kill them.

Also I have no idea why I didn't take any progress pics, but you know, a scoop of filling, rolled and dipped is all the same right?  Well take my word for it, at least this time.

I hope you try them out, because of all the things I have made, these always get the most thumbs up.


I am famous for these, at least in my family.

Also I have a winner for my Sky Zone passes.  Cheri is the only person who is in Canada that commented so that was an easy win.  Yay for Cheri, I will send you an email today so you can get those as soon as possible.  Thanks all for reading


Lil\'Luna
HookingupwithHoH
< imgalt="Our Delightful Home" src=" http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r525/ourdelightfulhome/odhbutton1.jpg>

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Holy moly those look good!

Christine said...

This is absolutely amazing!!

You shared this link on the BlogLovin' Hop (Blog Hop not Linky Party). Do you have an account with Bloglovin' so that I can update your link to Bloglovin'?
http://thediydreamer.blogspot.ca/2012/04/bloglovin-hop.html

You are more than welcome to share you creations at From Dream To Reality:
http://thediydreamer.blogspot.ca/2012/04/from-dream-to-reality-linky-party-11.html

Thanks so much! :)

Linda Beeson said...

Yum! I can see that brownies would be a great choice for these.

Lisa Rukin Swift said...

um, yes please. :)

Sylvia Blum said...

What do you mean by 'don't judge by the picture'?! They look fantastic!!! I am sure they are delicious.. I so wish I could taste some... :-)))
Thanks for sharing!!! :-)
Sylvia xx

Katrina said...

I don't think I realized you are not in "the states", so where are you? ;)
And then guess what? A couple years ago--maybe 2008/2009, I thought up brownies balls (when cake balls were becoming all the rage), because my family doesn't like cake. (Not saying I was the first either!) My family also doesn't like frosting (I know, do these people really belong to me?) I found that brownies are sticky enough that I just crushed them up and rolled them into balls. What I'm trying to tell myself is that they are healthier, right? ;)
http://www.bakingandboys.com/2009/05/s-chocolate-covered-brownie-balls.html
AND, yours look great! There, I'm done. hehe

Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust said...

You don't have the 9x13 pan size there either? I think we need to write to the government or something. ;) LOVE the brownie balls, YUMMY. And I'm adding a 9x13 brownie mix to the list of non-Canadian foods I must send you, lol.

Kim said...

OK. These seriously look yummy, especially spruced up with the white chocolate drizzle. Mmmmm, good!

Simply Tasheena said...

Awesome job! They look perfect and super yummy! I would love for you to share this post with my readers at my linky party via: http://ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com/2012/04/show-me-what-you-got-linky-party-9.html

Mrs.Delightful
www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

Hanunyah said...

Those look fancy (like truffles or something). I may try my own version because of allergies - using brownies from scratch. Sorry if that offends you, but they are so easy it's not a big deal for me ;). Oh, and if you don't take my word for it, you may see my easy brownie recipe here :) - http://hanunyahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-good-super-simple-fudgey.html

Maite said...

I could use some!

Christine@ Projects Around the House said...

These look so good! I made need to attempt them. I would probably be eating up the brownie as I scooped them out and there would be nothing left lol:)

Christine @ Projectsaroundthehouse.blogspot.com

Cloves said...

I hate cake balls but I'd be willing to try those. :)

Staci said...

These look delicious! TFS.

Ruth said...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm like the look of these. I have yet to make sucessful cake balls. looks like it's back to the drawing board for me again!