Apple Brownies

Wanting something different to serve at your Holiday parties this year?  Look no further.  These apple brownies are sure to be a crowd-pleaser.  You can serve these dusted with a little cinnamon and powdered sugar, or my favorite, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream then drizzled with a delicious chocolate sauce. 

Apple Brownies

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups peeled chopped apples (any kind will work)

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs.  Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until well combined.  Stir in chopped apples.  Spread into a 9x13 inch greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Chocolate Sauce

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 square unsweetened chocolate (or substitute 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon oil)

1/2 cup butter

Place all ingredients into a saucepan.  Melt over medium-high heat until everything is melted and combined.

STEP-BY-STEP

 Begin by peeling and chopping about 3 apples, enough to make 2 cups worth.  Any type of apple will work in this recipe.  WARNING:  I've found that Granny Smith apples (which is all I had today) leave a sharp almost bitter taste in this recipe.  It's not bad, just different.  I usually use Fuji, which makes these brownies sweeter, but seriously whatever you have in your house will work.

 In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until nice and light.

 Beat in the eggs.

 Now it's time to add in the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

 Last, stir in the chopped apples.

 Spread batter into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. 

They'll look like this when they're done.

You can stop here and sprinkle the top with mixture of cinnamon and powdered sugar and serve them this way.

OR

serve them with vanilla ice cream and this dreamy can't get enough chocolate sauce.

Here's how to make it:

 I usually don't have unsweetened chocolate squares around my house so I always substitute 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with 1 tablespoon of oil for each square called for in a recipe.  This is what I did for the chocolate sauce.

to that add one stick of butter (or 1/2 cup)

 and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (YUM!).

Melt everything over medium-high heat until everything is melted and combined.

(Don't be alarmed if you're tempted to get out a straw and drink this- it happens to me every time)

 Serve the brownies warm, topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.