Easy Dark Chocolate Nutella Brownies

Hello! Happy day before Friday! Wow, this week has just flown by! My children had Monday off in observance of President's Day and they had early release yesterday, so for today being Thursday, I am wondering where the week went! It is definitely feeling like Spring around here, for those of you in negative numbers, I hope it being close to 80F, sends you some warmth and sunshine! My tulips are blooming, and there are even a couple buds on my rosebushes. I don't even think they know it's still winter!

If you saw my post yesterday, then you read how I'd been procrastinating on writing this post, simply because, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I had enough chocolate to last a month or at least until I ran out of, which is what happened two days ago. It started with the cake I made for Lindsay's 9th Birthday! It was a  Dark Chocolate ganche, and strawberry filled cream cheese heart cake.  I got the inspiration from Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Strawberry Nutella cake. With that cake and all the Valentine's chocolate, I could not look at or eat anymore.

I had planned to cover the entire ganache covered cake with cream cheese frosting, except the strawberries left a huge gap between cake layers, so I went with a more open cake concept. I actually like the double black on white look with the heart on top! Oh my gosh, this cake was gone in two days! The recipe was really moist but dense and really easy to make! It is definitely one of my top chocolate go to recipes.

This Nutella glazed brownie recipe is even easier than this chocolate cake recipe, because it only has 4 ingredients and you can make it in one bowl (after you melt the chocolate)! After I took one bite of these brownies, it reminded me of eating a Ferrero Roche, bursting with  Nutella hazelnut flavor. Total prep time and baking time was around 30 minutes or less. If you need a quick dessert, or need a chocolate fix immediately, this is one to make.

Dark Chocolate Nutella Brownies

Ingredients:  

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup Nutella

1 stick (4 ounces) SALTED butter

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup all purpose flour 

For topping:

1/2 cup Nutella

 Mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts

Powdered sugar and fresh fruit

 Instructions:

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a small saucepan melt the butter and 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Once the butter is completely melted and the chocolate chips have completely melted, stir in the nutella. Remove from heat to cool for about 5 minutes.

3.  Now I did not add a cup of sugar the recipe called for, I am trying to cut back on sugar, but you may at this time add up to 1 cup of sugar and beat well. Then add eggs, and  flour, stirring until just combined! Fold in remaining chocolate chips.

4. Pour batter into a lightly greased 8×8 baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.

5. Remove from oven; let cool for at least 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve!

6. If topping, simply glaze brownies with extra nutella and sprinkle with chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or powdered sugar and fresh fruit right before serving.

Here are a couple more Nutella recipes (with or could be made with) I would love to try for next time! Enjoy!

Nutella Cheesecake



Nutella filled croissants

 Zucchini Cake roll with Chocolate Cream cheese frosting

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A Week in CASL Photos: February 12- February 18

I am so glad you stopped by to visit me today! What I love about Wednesday is that I get to share with you a peek into what my week has been like, and possibly a sneak peek to what next week will bring. I've tried 365 Photo or Daily photo memes several times before, and surprisingly, I am getting farther posting my photos once a week, instead of once a day. It makes a big difference, and it's really nice to look back and see a slice of my day!

 

February 12- Pointy- How does that saying go again? "All we need is LOVE!!" When I think of pointy this time of year, I think of Cupid's Arrows!

February 13- What tempts me...Chocolate gets me every time!! I've even dedicated a full board on There is a lot to be said about planning your blog posts. Not that I've been procrastinating, well maybe a little. Truth be told I am all chocolate out! I didn't think I could say it, but there it is..Seriously...I had a post planned for brownies, but with the cake I made for Lindsay's birthday, (which is the post I should have written, and I do have a picture of that), and the mountain of chocolate for Valentine's Day, I couldn't look or eat anymore chocolate! With that my post is coming, since I ran out of chocolate last night! It did help me realize to become better at planning out my posts. Does anyone else plan out their posts in advance, or do you post when you feel inspired?

Follow Christine Reed Brown's board CHOCOLATE!! :-) on Pinterest.

February 14- LOVE- Me and my husband about two years ago in Vegas!

 

Every Valentine's Day my hunny gifts me with Yellow roses, because they are my favorite, and since we are high school sweethearts, the first time he gave me yellow roses, for friendship. I think he didn't want to scare me off, with red roses. He is my best friend, so it always seemed perfect for me and, it's lasted ever since. This year he surprised with another one of my favorites peach orchids.

 

 

 

February 15- Spot...I spotted this giraffe at Home Goods the other day!

 

 

What I was really looking for were some new candle stands and coastal décor, like these!

 

 

Hampton Handmade Coastal Decor Pillow - Blue Stripes, Sand Dollars and Burlap Accents - 20-in x 20-in

 

 

 

By the Sea Lighthouse Tea Light Holder

 

 

 

 

Yankee Candle Beach Walk Small Tumbler 7oz Candle  

 

 

 February 16- Where I stand... After Home Goods, I stopped by my favorite used bookstore to pick up my favorite magazines and a cook book or two. Can anyone else get lost in a used book store like me for hours?

 

 

February 17- Routine- My morning routine... A cup of coffee in my favorite DIY Watercolor mug (that just happens to be my #1 on Pinterest) and a Triple Berry Smoothie today! Both help jumpstart my morning for this busy momma of 4! You can find more smoothie recipes on my

 

Follow Christine Reed Brown's board Smoothies on Pinterest.

 

 

 

 

February 18...Bedside...Teatime reading my new magazines. The quote on the teatag reads

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."- Brad Paisley

 

 

 

If you are interested I am following THIS photo a day prompt!

You can  Follow me here on Instagram !

Let me know if you decide to join in the fun!

Have a great rest of your week! Until next time!

 

5 Red Velvet Treats Perfect for Valentine's Day

Happy day before Friday, friends! I am so excited Valentine's Day is on a weekend this year! Which gives me more time to bake up some love with these Red Velvet Treats! First let me say I dream of chocolate. With one bite, all is right with the world, and I can keep calm and carry on!
One Christmas I made a Red Velvet-White Chocolate Cheesecake, I believe this is the recipe, it was to die for! Today I am sharing these five delectable Red Velvet treats for those of you, like me, who are looking for some last minute inspiration.

Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake

This was an awesome cake! Even though I made it for Christmas, you could easily transform this into a Valentine's Day cake if you are entertaining a Valentine's Day Dinner for your loved ones!

Photo: Hector Sanchez

 

Classic Red Velvet Cupcakes

Very pretty, very classic! Who wouldn't want to take a bite out of these cupcakes!

 

 

Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Eat your heart out!

 Another one of my favorite combinations, Red Velvet and Cheesecake!

 

 

 

Red Velvet Valentine Macaroons

Ever since the first time I made Lemon macaroons, I have been fascinated with these delicate melt in your mouth treats!

 

 

Red Velvet Crepes with Raspberry cream cheese filling

These look amazingly rich and sinful! I love crepes, and these would be an eat before dinner dessert for me, so I don't have to save room for it!

 

 

 

Now, I hope this helps you to plan your dessert out for your Valentine's Dinner. For Dinner, I am making these  Individual Beef Wellingtons from Sandra Lee (for just me and my husband, I doubt my children would eat them)!

 

Wishing you all a fun loving and beautiful Valentine's Day spending time with the ones you love!

Until next time!

 



Valentine's Day Craft: Part 3 : DIY Dollar Store Shabby Chic Distressed Picture Frame with Valentine Printable

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! I've been working on a couple painted furniture projects. Lately, I feel like I just want to paint something!!

Today I am sharing a new love of mine, (which has been a trend for awhile now, that I am just now finding out about) , is to take something old or new and turn it into something shabby and chic.

My husband actually laughed last night, when he's been a woodworker for about ten years now, and was wondering why it's taken me this long to start wanting to do this. It's nice that he can appreciate, when I am trying to do learn something new that I enjoy doing.

Last week, I picked up two wooden oak frames at the Dollar store,  some Acrylic paint (Parisian Pink and Antique White) at Michael's, 3 foam brushes for $1, and my husband had some fine grain sand paper.

First I sanded the frame down, to not only help the acrylic paint adhere to the wood, but to start giving it that distressed older look. Looking at old frames, they seem to take the most wear on the corners and the edges.

Next, I painted the frame first in pink, and let it dry completely. After it dried completely, I sanded down the frame, again on the corners and edges, until I got the shabby look I was after. Over the pink, I painted the Antique White. Once it dried, I carefully sanded the corners and edges, to expose very little wood, I was after a pop of pink to come through. That's it. Super Easy.

I actually made two frames, the first one, was pink on antique white, which I didn't see to much antique white pop through, so that's when I tried the second frame with the Antique white on the pink. They both looked like old Shabby Chic frames without a piece of Art to show case.

You can find the Valentine's Day printable HERE. If you have ever wanted to learn how to make your own Holiday Printable, take a look at this POST.

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If you enjoyed this Valentine's Day Craft, here are Parts 1 and 2.

Valentine's Day Crafts Part 1: DIY Dollar Store Crepe Paper Rose Heart

Valentine's Day Craft Part 2: Stained Dollar Store Glass Candy Dish

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Valentine's Day Craft Part 2: Stained Dollar Store Glass Candy Dish

Growing up, when we went to Grandma's house to visit, she would always offer us a piece of candy! My brother and I would get this big smile on our faces and happily picked one piece of sweet candy, unwrapped it as quick as we could to get our sweet. sugary fix!

When I saw this pin for Tinted Mason Jars, I knew I was going to make one of these eventually, that the thought also came to me about tinted glass RED for a Valentine's Candy Dish! It couldn't have been easier to make!! The hardest part was waiting for the Mod Podge to dry!

 

Gathering my supplies, I needed:

A glass candle stick -$1

A glass bowl- $1

Ribbon from Wallmart- $1

Loctite adhesive, my husband already had handy!

A sponge brush which I forgot to get in the picture 3 for $1

In this pin, it's suggested you tint Mod Podge with food coloring, I'm saving that for my next Spring project, but when I saw this Sheer Tint ModPodge I thought I'd try that, and see which way I liked better.

First, I coated the inside of the glass bowl with the sponge brush. Initially I coated it very lightly, and it didn't have the dramatic stained glass effect I was looking for. Then I poured half the bottle and swirled it around the glass bowl, until it was very well coated. To help with the runoff of excess glue, I turned the glass jar, upside down on an old cake pan I was going to toss anyway. I would use something to place underneath the glass bowl, to let it rest on, to keep from sticking to the cake pan.

After about an hour, when I noticed all of the excess had collected on the cake pan, I preheated my oven to it's very lowest setting about 170F. Carefully I set it upright, with the door to the oven open, I then turned off the oven, to have the heat help dry the glue. Make sure to check that the glass bowl, doesn't get too over heated and crack up on you.

You could also do several coats and wait in between 15-20 minutes for each coat to dry, which I think is safer.

Once the tinted glass bowl is dry, and no longer tacky, I added a dime size of adhesive on the bottom of the bowl, and then set the bowl on top of the glass candlestick.

This is what my Valentine's Stained Glass Candy Dish looked like with the sun shining through it! LOVE the brilliant red color!

After the adhesive dried clear, (it took about an hour), I decorated it with a bow, and of course filled it with Dark Chocolates!

If you enjoyed this post, you can take a look at  :

Part 1: DIY Red Crepe Paper Rose Hanging Heart

Part 3: DIY $Store Valentine Shabby Chic Picture Frame with Printable

 Until next time! XOXO

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A Week in CASL Photos: January 15th- January 21st

  January 15th- Old- It was 10 years ago, I visited this Antique store in Chandler, AZ. Lately, I have this obsession with Shabby Chic distressed dressers. It was fun browsing all the booths, with their collectibles, and antique furnishings. If you are ever in Chandler, look in on Urban Bliss. She has so many lovely things.

 

  January 16th- Nature- Thought this was unusual to have the leaves changing color in January....I guess anything is possible in Arizona.
January 17th- Jump- It has been super nice weather we've been having. Took the girls over to the park after school for a little playtime. It's always fun to swing as high as you can and then Jump!!  

 

January 18th- Today is...Another Valentine's project...Tinted Mod Podge and dollar store items, for a Valentine's Candy Dish.

 

January 19th- Home made- My husband has been asking since the New Year for an Pineapple Upside Down Cake. After all the fudge, chocolate and baked cookies from Christmas, I really wasn't feeling like anything too sweet. These Pineapple Upside Biscuits were perfect. Slightly sweet, buttery, (because we have to have our biscuits buttery now) and were the perfect sweet treat!

 

January 20th- Window- Stained glass with sun shining through the window. Part 2 of my Valentine's Craft ideas.

 

January 21st- In a row- I love citrus this time of year. Lemons and oranges are not only colorful, but Vitamin C is very good for you if you are fighting off a cold or the flu. Dinner last night was Lemon Roasted Chicken with Red Potatoes and Carrots.

With the weather as nice as it's been I was actually able to get out in the garden, pruning my roses and cutting away the dead branches from my dormant bushes. Getting some thoughts together of what I want to plant for the Spring.

Here's to a great rest of the week!! Until next time!