Monster Pops

Monster Pops

 

When is the last time you had a real homemade brownie – from scratch?  We are talking about a super dense hunk of fudge-like chocolate.  Not just an average brownie, but a brownie that is really amazing, over the top amazing?

Sure you can buy brownies at the store deli, they are good.   The great ones are about three dollars each – about the same price to make this whole batch of brownies!

For fun, we shaped the brownies, added a stick and decorated them with Halloween designs.  (The instructions are at the end of the recipe.)

Here are a few tricks to making this perfect treat:

-          Use Southern Biscuit All-Purpose Flour, it is a blend of soft wheat and hard wheat so you have a brownie texture that is dense and fudge-like.

-          Use real butter if you have it.

-          Add a bit of brown sugar, it brings out the chocolate flavor.

 

Rich Fudge Brownies

Makes about 30 servings of Monster Pop-size brownies.

 

1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup brown sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup Southern Biscuit® All-Purpose Flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

8 ounces white candy coating

Food coloring

Mini chocolate chips

Pop sticks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9-inch square pan with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper leaving an overhang at the sides to lift cooled brownies easily from pan.

Melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan.  Whisk in the sugars until completely smooth.  Remove from heat and add the eggs gradually, beating constantly using a whisk.  Add the vanilla and stir to combine.

Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt slowly at first until blended.  Once the ingredients are moistened, beat using a wooden spoon for about 60 strokes or until the mixture is smooth throughout.

Pour the batter into the pan.  Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted is almost clean when removed.  The toothpick should not be wet, but have a few bits of brownie that sticks.

Cool completely on a cooling rack.  To remove from pan, lift on the foil or parchment paper.

To make Monster Pops:

Use a cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon to portion brownies.  Use your palms to roll the brownies into a ball.  Don’t use the crisp sides along the edge of the pan and roll so that any crusty pieces are not on the outside so the ball is smooth.

Place a pop stick into each ball.

Melt the white candy coating according to instructions on package, adding vegetable oil to thin as needed until brownies are easily dipped and coated.  Too thick coating will cause the brownies to break apart.  Add food color as desired to make orange pumpkins, green monsters, or other colors as desired.

Dip and place on parchment paper to cool.  If the coating is too thin, allow them to cool and set, then dip again.  Decorate with mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts for eyes or purchase candy eyes.  Pipe on mouths using decorating frosting.  These can also simply be rolled in sprinkles or other decorations.

 

Halloween Supper – Harvest Pot Pies

Halloween Supper

The trees in the mountains are burning with color this year, and it won’t be long before the colors are everywhere. We decided to take that color to the plate with simple sweet potatoes and apples paired with country sausage and topped with a biscuit. Yes, country sausage for supper, it is economical, flavorful, comforting, and pork and apples are delicious together – so why not?

For the topping we used Southern Biscuit® Formula L Biscuit Mix and sour cream. That’s all, just two simple ingredients is all you need. The biscuit mix gives recipes a buttery flavor unlike any other biscuit mix.

Along with fall beauty comes Halloween fun. Most kids love the holiday, so why not turn a simple meal into a Halloween treat with some simple cheese slices. Let children create their own topping on COOLED pot pies. Try topping them with olives, capers and peppers too, you can use anything they like to create fun or scary faces. Then return pot pies to the oven to melt the cheese and reheat. Take a picture and send us your kids and their creations, we will post them!

Harvest Pot Pies

Serves 6

Filling
1 pound country sausage
2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced into ½-inch chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into ½-inch chunks
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping
2 cups Southern Biscuit® Formula L Biscuit Mix
1 cup dairy sour cream
6 slices American cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat six ramekins or one 9-inch round baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Crumble sausage into a medium to large skillet. Add diced apples, sweet potatoes, and chopped onions. Cook over medium low heat until the sausage is browned. Cover and continue cooking for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are just tender. Drain skillet.

Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour filling into each of the ramekins or the baking dish.

Combine the biscuit mix and sour cream. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Use a floured rolling pin or your floured hands to roll the dough to about 1/3-inch thick (slightly thinner than for biscuits). You want your dough to be the size of your dish so cut dough in a round and place it over the filling, sealing the edges of the dough to the sides of the baking dish. If using ramekins, place on a baking sheet..

Bake ramekins for 20 minutes, and the casserole for 30 minutes or until the biscuits are lightly browned. Let cool if children will be decorating them. Top cooled pot pies with cheese, to make Halloween scary faces as desired.

Return to oven to melt cheese and reheat the pot pies.