Disclaimer: The reviewer has received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. I am being compensated to participate in #Switch2Swerve challenge through the Bookieboo Influencer Network . I will switch out my regular sweetener to Swerve Sweetener from November 18, 2013 through December 20, 2013. All opinions are my own and are my honest opinions based on my own experience with the product.
Brownies sounded good - and I had some mini candy canes that were chewy instead of crunchy. I came across some cute decorative, edible snowmen holding mini-Starlight mints at the craft store and decided it was time to bake brownies. I didn't want just any brownies though. I wanted to make them from scratch and use up some of the mini candy canes I had on hand.
The first step was to gather all the ingredients, mix the brownies up, bake them and while they were baking, make the icing. Here is my recipe - and do try it, it is delightful. My favorite part? The icing! I have never tasted such a light, melt-in-your-mouth icing as the one I made with Swerve Confectioner Sugar for this recipe. It was delightful - and completely decadent. It was like eating snow - only it tasted so much better!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups real butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon Fleur de Sel salt
- 6 mini candy canes cup or chopped into ⅛ inch pieces
- 3 cups Swerve Confectioners Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Wilton Snowman Decorations
- Wilton Edible Glitter in silver
- Wilton Pearl Dust in white
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line your brownie pan with foil. A good size is an 8" square pan, but I have a rectangular pan made specifically made for brownies and you may too. If so, use it.
3. Melt 1 cup of butter in a pan on low heat.
4. As the butter begins to melt and the bottom of the pan is covered with ¼ inch to ½ inch of butter, add in the chocolate chips.
5. Continue melting the butter and chocolate chips on low heat, stirring as needed to keep them from burning.
6. Once the butter and chocolate chips are completely melted, stir them well so they combine and remove the pan from the heat source.
7. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
8. Add in the Swerve Sweetener and stir it into the butter and chocolate
9. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and stir again.
10. Stir in the eggs, one at a time. It is best to break each egg in a dish and then add it to your mixture.
11. Add the salt and stir.
12. Add the flour, a little at a time stirring the batter as you go.
13. Pour the batter into the foil lined pan.
14. Sprinkle the candy cane pieces on top and use a knife or spatula to swirl them into the batter. It is ok for some pieces to remain on top.
15. Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes. When they are done, a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan will come out clean.
16. Cool the brownies on a cooling rack. My pan came with one. If your pan did not, you can use regular cake cooling racks.
17. While the brownies are baking or cooling (your choice) put the remaining 1 cup of softened butter in a bowl and begin whipping it on low speed with an electric mixer. I have a KitchenAid mixer and used the "Stir" setting.
18. Turn the mixer off and add the first cup of confectioner sugar to the butter.
19. Turn the mixer back on low speed. Again, I used the "Stir" setting.
20. Repeat steps 18 and 19 twice more until all the confectioner sugar is added.
21. Turn the speed of the mixer up. I turned mine to a "2."
22. Add in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
23. Add in the 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream.
24. Continue mixing until the icing is light and fluffy. This takes 2 to 3 minutes on a medium-high speed.
25. Once the brownies are cool, frost them. Here's a tip: put your frosting knife in a cup of hot tap water. It will melt the excess icing off and make it easy for you to smooth out the icing on the brownies.
26. Cut the brownies into squares. My pan came with a pre-fit cutter, but you can use a knife.
27. Sprinkle the pearl dust over the top of the icing.
28. Sprinkle the edible glitter stars over the top of the icing.
29. Press the decorated snowmen into the center of each square. I chose to use just one package of snowmen, so some of my squares are not decorated with snowmen and this is ok. The choice is yours.
30. Serve the brownies and enjoy!
For recipes or more information on Swerve Sweetener, to connect with Swerve Sweetener on social media or to find out where to purchase Swerve Sweetener, visit these links:
Swerve Sweetener Website: http://www.swervesweetener.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swervesweetie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwerveSweet
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/swervesweetie
Instagram: http://instagram.com/swervesweetie
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100398605293713361413
Remember – Swerve measures out cup for cup just like sugar, so you don’t have to worry about doing any crazy math to figure out how to use it in your recipes.
