When I was in high school, I worked in a pretty pathetic mall (there were like 3 stores in the place that stayed open for more than a month) at an Auntie Anne’s. There was honestly no reason to visit that mall unless you wanted a pretzel or ice cream. No reason at all.
But in reality, pretzels and ice cream are two very good reasons to visit any place, or at least in my opinion they are. On my days off, I’d still go to the mall sometimes to “visit my coworkers”, which was code for “pick up a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s and a scoop from the Coldstone around the corner”.
This is particularly sad because I literally ate pretzels for dinner almost every day, and we all traded pretzels for ice cream at the end of the night. Thank goodness for that high school metabolism, I guess?
Anyway, sometimes I would tell myself that I probably shouldn’t eat ice cream for like the 10 millionth time that month, but then I’d walk by Coldstone on my way out of the mall, and I’d see the gigantic menu they have hanging up with a picture of Birthday Cake Remix staring me in the face. How could I resist?
I don’t work in the mall anymore, so I’ve been able to avoid excessive amounts of ice cream for the past few years. However, every time I do get dragged TOTALLY AGAINST MY WILL (yeah right) into a Coldstone, you can bet your sweet dessert that I order Birthday Cake Remix. Cake batter ice cream, sprinkles, brownies, and fudge… it doesn’t get much better than that.
That is, of course, unless you make it in brownie form. SAY WHAT!?
Yes, brownie form.
Super fudgy, dark chocolate brownies are layered between vanilla-y, sprinkle-filled blondies, all studded with white and chocolate chips. This is not a dessert for the faint of heart. It’s a dessert for the true sweet-lovers, the ones who look sugar rushes in the eye and say, “YOU DON’T SCARE ME,” and then dig in face-first. Or I mean you could just cut your Birthday Cake Remix Brownies into small squares and eat them like a normal person, but where’s the fun in that? Where’s the passion? Where’s the excitement?
This week, we’ve got my brother’s, mom’s and aunt’s birthdays, so I’m going to make another batch of these bad boys and watch them disappear. Try them out for your next birthday party, or just make them because they’re really good and you don’t need no stinkin’ excuses to make them! Yeah!
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Birthday Cake Remix Brownies
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 28 mins
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 1x
Description
This recipe was adapted from a few recipes which I combined from Averie Cooks, who is a baking genius and makes everything WAY EASIER than I knew was possible.
Ingredients
For the Birthday Cake Layers:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon imitation vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of baking powder
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles, plus more to top
For the Brownie Layer:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (dutch process works best here)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, cold
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of baking powder
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing some to hang over the edges. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. (This should take about a minute and a half.) Let the butter cool down so it doesn’t cook the next ingredients. Once the butter is cooled, mix in the egg, light brown sugar, and imitation vanilla. If you don’t have imitation vanilla, you can use pure vanilla extract, but the imitation vanilla gives a much more yellow birthday cake-ish flavor! The imitation kind is cheap and can usually be found near the pure vanilla extract at the grocery store, so if you can use that, I’d recommend it.
- Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder until just combined. Then, fold in all of the chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of sprinkles.
- Pour half of the batter into the foil-lined pan and smooth it out with a knife, spatula, or the back of a spoon. Set the other half of the batter aside.
- In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, combine the 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Heat on high for 45 seconds, stir, and then heat for an additional 15 seconds, or in 15 second intervals until the butter is completely melted and can be mixed with the additional ingredients easily.
- Add in the egg and stir until mixture is well blended and thick. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and mix until fully incorporated, and no lumps remain. Try not to overmix as this will make your brownies tough.
- Pour the brownie layer on top of the birthday cake layer and gently smooth it out across the pan using a knife, spatula, or the back of a spoon. Pour the remaining birthday cake blondie batter on top, and smooth again. Top with additional sprinkles.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the pan and an inserted toothpick comes out clean (or almost clean, at least. These are pretty fudgy).
- Let the brownies cool in the pan for 1 hour, then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight so you can cut them easily. Cut into small squares and serve!
SO crazy! These look perfect for a party 🙂
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood
Haha, I definitely still visit the mall just for pretzels! And, I agree, it’s a perfectly good reason. Anyway, these things look incredible! I can’t wait to try them!
Um, these look amazing! Seriously drooling here. Will definitely be making these gorgeous goodies!
Oh the infamous trips to Auntie Anne’s. Those were the good days.
I miss it. And you!
I was just looking for a new cookie/brownie recipe to bring to my holiday party this year for the cookie swap. This recipe looks amazing and I think I’m going to try it – my only concern is quantity. I wonder if you have any thoughts on how to adjust this to make in a 9 x 13 pan? I can certainly make it as directed twice, but I thought it might be a time saver to just make it in a bigger pan.
I’m not really avid baker so I’ve never adjusted a recipe like this before. Just looking to see if you may have any thoughts. Thank you in advance!
Haha, I definitely still visit the mall just for pretzels! And, I agree, it’s a perfectly good reason. Anyway, these things look incredible! I can’t wait to try them!
The idea of this recipe is good, but a “pinch” of baking powder is way too ambiguous. My pinch could be different from somebody else’s and is something important to measure as baking is all about chemistry. Also, I followed the instructions but my batter was quite dry.. i needed to add extra eggs and milk to make it more moist. I find the 1:1 ratio of sugar to flour a little too sweet for my taste. Won’t use this recipe again.
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work well for you, Kianna
For the brownie layer, how much flour, please? 😉
Hi,
Do you think i could double the recipe for a bigger pan?
Don’t have one quite so small..
Thx
Hi! How do I store these? I made them last night and they turned out great!! – do they need to stay in the fridge or can they be stored at room temperature?
Best thing I’ve ever baked! So so happy with how they came out. Easy recipe to follow and the results are incredible. Deffo making these again!! Thank you!!x
★★★★★