Chocolate Buttercream Iced Brownies

For being an atypical female, I do every now and then have some super stereotypical tendencies.  Mostly, its baking.  If someone is coming over, or I am going to an event, my first thought is usually "I should bake something." Usually it is cake pops, but a quick and simple thing to whip up is brownies.  I was not interested in a four hour cake pop venture today.

And, I really wanted chocolate.  Which is rare for me.  And my boyfriend is coming over.  That had nothing to do with it of course...

Regardless, I made these with a mix.  I never mind using brownie mix because I really like the flavor of it and it is usually pretty cheap.  This was plain o' Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Mix, which is pretty much my favorite kind.

I mixed it according to directions and popped it in the oven.  Luckily, 20 minutes later I was thinking about how yummy they were smelling already and suddenly realized I was baking in a dark nonstick.  Now, this is great in the fact that dark nonstick pans are amazing.  What was not great is that I had almost forgotten that I would need to cut time off of the 25 minutes, as per suggested on the box.  I pulled them out at 21 (24 minimum on the box - 3 suggested minutes off as per directions) and they had just started to pull away from the edge so everything was fine.

Whew, close call there.

I got out my jar of peanut butter I had just purchased, Meijer Naturals Creamy PB that is, and opened it when it sloshed oil everywhere onto my kitchen island I just bought.  Yuck! I tasted the peanut butter, it was gritty and did not have a lot of flavor which surprised me because I usually like Meijer products.  Needless to say I tossed the whole jar.  It was not even worth returning.  So there I was with un-iced brownies...what to do what to do....

It has long been my theory that many things can be solved with butter.  And so I got out my handy dandy smaller blue mixing bowl and went to work:
-1/2 stick butter, room temp
-1 TB cocoa (Hershey's)
-1/5-2 Cups powdered sugar depending on how stiff you want the icing to be,
-1 tsp Vanilla

Random side note, I just bought Rodelle Vanilla at Meijer because their plant uses wind energy and supports eco friendly ventures.  I think that is pretty darn cool.  I would have rather had clear vanilla, but the odds of me making anything that brown vanilla will even make a difference in are slim.

Anyways I mixed the butter with the cocoa first, then added the powdered sugar and the vanilla.  You can really add as little or much powdered sugar as you like, you will just need to add a little water if you add a lot and it gets to stiff or won't mix in. 

The number of times I mix things by hand are slim, yet for some reason things involving brownies almost never entice me to break out the kitchenaid.  Ask me to mix cake pops, on the other hand, and it is the first thing I plug in.  I made my icing stiff enough to pipe and did my mom's usual trend of putting some design down the diagonal of the brownie with dots on the other corners. 

I don't think brownies need a sickening amount of icing on them, so I like to roll with this method too.  And, since my guy likes Reese's cups, I was that nice girlfriend and put them on as well.  I have found that the best way to keep friends, and subsequently boyfriends, is to be nice now and then.  Earth shattering, I know.

And I have a few brownies that wouldn't fit in the tray in my freezer to eat the next time I have some delicious homemade ice cream!

Happy crafting!

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