Living La Vida Holoka


Mini Reindeer Brownie Bites

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Turn a box of brownies into adorable red-nosed reindeer with this Mini Reindeer Brownie Bites recipe! Chocolate frosting, candy eyes, cinnamon drops, and pretzels transform brownies into the cutest Christmas treats!

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My husband can take a box of brownies and turn them into the most magical brownies you’ve ever tasted in your life (no, not like those brownies)!  They’ve got a perfect outer edge and a deliciously chewy inside!  And somehow, he manages to be consistent every single time!  So I’ve basically left brownie duty to the master.  That was until about a week ago when I finally learned some of his tricks!

I had a craving for brownies, but I wanted to make them festive for the holidays (and to get me in the mood to start my long list of holiday baking).  Thankfully, the brownie master just happened to be home from work the day I made these!

When I asked my husband how he makes his perfect brownies, he told me to bake them for the longest time on the box.  Basically, bake the brownies for the longest recommended time for the type of pan you’re using. 

Make sense?  No? 

Say, you’re using a standard, non-stick brownie pan and the box of brownies says to bake them at 325º for 30-35 minutes.  Bake the brownies for the full 35 minutes and don’t open the door while they’re baking!  There’s definitely something to that!  Because after 35 minutes in the oven, the brownies had a perfect crust on the top and chewy bottoms!  It was hard not to eat any before decorating them!


But instead of using a regular brownie pan, I made these brownies in a mini muffin pan to create small, brownie bites.  I used the same time and temperature as a regular brownie pan.  Then, I turned them into reindeer with chocolate frosting, candy eyes and cinnamon drops to create the face and broken pretzels for antlers.  So stinkin’ cute!  And my husband said they were really good, too!

Moms, if your little ones want to get in on the baking action, these are an easy Christmas treat they can help you make!  Just frost the brownie bites with chocolate frosting.  Then, let the kids decorate them with the candy eyes and cinnamon drops.  They might need a little help pushing in the pretzel antlers, but they’ll love turning brownies into reindeer!

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Mini Reindeer Brownie Bites

Mini Reindeer Brownie Bites

Ingredients

  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • 1 box brownie mix
  • Chocolate frosting
  • Candy eyes
  • Red cinnamon drops
  • Pretzels

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Prepare brownie mix according to package. Spoon the brownie batter into the mini muffin pan, filling the pan almost to the top.
  3. Bake the brownies for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the brownies.
  4. Allow the brownies to cool completely. Then, carefully remove them from the pan. You might have to use a knife to loosen the sides and lift the bottom, but they should come out easily after that.
  5. Frost the top of the brownies. Then, add two candy eyes and a red cinnamon drop to make a face.
  6. Break up a pretzel and stick two pieces into the brownie to create antlers.
  7. Enjoy with a big glass of milk or eggnog!
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I’m really only a baker around the holidays.  The rest of the year….not so much.  That’s why I usually stick to box mixes and premade cookie dough.  But if you have a favorite homemade brownie mix recipe, I’m sure it would make these brownie bites taste even better than they already do! 

These reindeer brownies would be adorable for a class party or make an easy treat to enjoy during a holiday movie marathon!  Add them to your holiday cookie trays or leave a couple out for Santa! Who could possibly resist an adorable red-nosed reindeer?  Especially when it’s made out of brownies! 


Did you make these Mini Reindeer Brownie Bites? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!  Merry Christmas! 

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If you like this holiday recipe, you might enjoy these as well:

Fresh Cranberry Apple Pie

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Two of fall’s best flavors come together in a tart, but sweet Fresh Cranberry Apple Pie that’s perfect for the holiday season!

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I recently read an article that cranberry sauce is one of the most hated items on the Thanksgiving table.  Hold up!  Wait a minute!  One of my favorite things on the Thanksgiving table is the cranberry sauce! 

I don’t mean the glob of gelatinous cranberry muck that comes out in the shape of a tin can and needs to be sliced.  Oh no!  I’m talking about that whole berry goodness! I would eat a bowl of whole berry cranberry sauce on its own like it’s a dessert jelly (especially when Mom makes it homemade).  I love it that much! 

So like a hundred years ago, when I started this blog, I made a cranberry pie recipe because I wanted to figure out how to wrap all of that tart, cranberry goodness into a delicious dessert.  My family gave it some flack at first.  But they came around with that first mouthful of not too tart, not too sweet berry flavor baked in a flaky pie crust! 

A new and improved holiday cranberry pie recipe!

 
So a hundred years later – or last weekend – I decided to pull out this pie recipe again after grabbing a bag of fresh cranberries from the store.  I’ve made a couple revisions to the original recipe.  This time, I’ve added apples (another fall favorite), fresh orange juice, vanilla bean, and other spices to the mix.


The recipe starts out like you’re making a fresh cranberry sauce. Add whole cranberries to a pot with fresh orange juice, sugar, and stir. Then, I added diced apples, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.  Flour helps the filling thicken into a gorgeous, red, fruit filling that smells like the holiday season!


Pour the mixture into a prepared pie crust (we use store bought because I haven’t mastered homemade). Then, top it with another pie crust and bake.


Along with not being able to master a homemade pie crust recipe, I’m also terrible at crimping my pie crust edges and making any sort of fancy decoration on top. But I was able to make a pretty lattice crust and added a turkey cutout for Thanksgiving.  Those pie edges?  Made with a fork.  It would be totally cool with me if someone could sign me up for a pie crust decorating class for Christmas! 

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Fresh Cranberry Apple Pie

Fresh Cranberry Apple Pie

Ingredients

  • 2 refrigerated pie crusts
  • 1 - 12 oz bag fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups diced apples
  • 1 vanilla bean, inside scraped
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg beaten, for egg wash

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Line a pie plate with one pie crust. 
  3. In saucepan add the fresh cranberries and orange juice. Bring to a boil.
  4. Gradually add the sugar to the mixture and stir.
  5. Then, add the diced apples, vanilla bean, cinnamon, flour, and salt.
  6. Lower the heat and continue cooking until mixture thickens.
  7. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
  8. Once the filling is cool, pour into the pie crust.
  9. Add the top crust as a lattice crust, or as a whole top crust, and crimp the edges.  Brush crust with egg wash.
  10. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. 
  11. Slice and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.
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My husband said this pie was a little too tart for his taste (it still hasn’t stopped him from digging into the pie plate though).  But that’s because he didn’t listen to his food loving wife.  I told him he should have warmed his slice up and added a nice dollop of whipped cream on top! 

I would also highly suggest serving the pie with vanilla ice cream.  It balances out the tartness of the cranberries.  As for me, I’m a big fan of tart flavors!  And pie!  So I’ve been a pretty happy girl!


Did you make this Fresh Cranberry Apple Pie recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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If you like this post, you might enjoy these as well:

Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars

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Have leftover Halloween candy from trick-or-treating?  Chop it up and turn it into these Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars that are oozing with chocolate, caramel, nougat, and nuts!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


Happy Halloween!  You can’t deny that there’s a sense of playfulness in the air today!  It’s going to be a fun day of Halloween parades, kids in costumes, and of course, candy!  Lots and lots of candy!  Man, I miss the days of coming home from school, scarfing down dinner, and heading out to trick-or-treat with my friends.

I remember ditching my cute pumpkin pal for a pillowcase.  Some years, we’d even have to go home and dump out the candy we got to head out into the neighborhood again!  We always knew which houses gave out full-size candy bars, extra handfuls of candy, money, and we even got some comic books in our bags! We had candy for days (more like enough to last until next Halloween) tucked away in large bowls on the top of the fridge!


These days, it seems like trunk-or-treat and organized Halloween events have taken over trick-or-treating.  We probably get less than handful of trick-or-treaters each year.  Instead of stocking up on bulk bags of candy, I opt for one assorted bag of mini chocolate bars.  And, most of the time, we end up with leftovers!

I try to stay away from sweets as much as possible, but I ended up buying a bag of assorted chocolate candy this year with Snickers and Twix bars in it this year.  Big mistake!  Those are two of my favorite chocolate candies!

A tasty way to use up leftover Halloween candy!

 
Whether you have leftover candy or you’re stealing it from your kids (don’t deny it – you know you do it!), I figured out a sweet way to use some of it up!  Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars!  I basically tweaked the recipe for my Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie, removed the chocolate chips and pecans, and added chopped Halloween candies, and ditched the cast iron skillet for a 9″ x 9″ baking pan.

The result is a thick, cookie-like bar.  As the bars bake, the chopped up candies melt down into it.  You get a gooey mixture of chocolate, caramel, nougat, and nuts in each delicious bar!  If you’re like me and kind of bummed that spooky season is coming to an end, this is a delicious way to keep it going a little longer!

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Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars

Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars

Ingredients

  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups mini Halloween candy bars, chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9" x 9" pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add softened butter and sugars. Beat until fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
  4. In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  5. Gradually beat in dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
  6. Fold in chopped Halloween candy bars.
  7. Spoon cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and evenly spread it out.
  8. Bake for 45 minutes or until edges of the cookie are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
  9. Optional: while the cookie bars are warm, press more chopped Halloween candy into the top of the cookie bars.
  10. Allow bars to cool completely before cutting and serving.
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What a sweet way to end spooky season!  Seriously.  These have been so good with a tall glass of milk at night.  I need someone to come and take these away from me!  Happy Halloween, indeed!

Did you make these Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars with your leftover Halloween candy? Make sure to share your pics on Instagram using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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If you like this Halloween recipe, you might enjoy these as well:

Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeBetterCookies #CollectiveBias #ChewyCookies

These Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are the ultimate mashup of classic chocolate chip cookies and fall flavors with a “fresh from the oven” texture!


There’s nothing like a cool, fall day and the smell of something warm and sweet baking in the oven! Fall is the return of so many of my favorite things, including baking season and, of course, pumpkin season!

I love whipping up baked goodies in the fall, but I’m not the best baker in the world (I seriously have so much to learn from my mother, the ace baker in the family). I’m not horrible, but I haven’t found a recipe that I can absolutely nail. My baked goods are usually just a little “off.” My cakes are a touch too dry and my cookies always seem to be a little too dark on the bottom.

Well, I definitely did something right with this cookie recipe because I nailed it! These Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are the ultimate fall cookie! Think: classic chocolate chip cookie with just the right amount of pumpkin goodness and a soft and chewy texture!


The recipe starts off like a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe – butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and all of that good stuff. But then the magic happens! I added in some pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to give these cookies a dose of fall flavor.

But the real secret to making the chewiest, best-tasting chocolate chip cookies ever is using Karo® Corn Syrup! Up until now, I basically kept Karo® Corn Syrup on hand to use in my husband’s favorite Chocolate Pecan Pie. That’s all changed thanks to this cookie recipe!


When it comes to cookies, I prefer them soft and chewy instead of crispy. You’ll usually find me sneaking a few cookies from the baking sheets when they’re fresh out of the oven! Karo® Corn Syrup keeps cookies soft and chewy for that “fresh from the oven” flavor in every delicious bite! It’s a great ingredient to keep on hand for your fall recipes.

These cookies aren’t just a perfect mashup of chocolate chips and pumpkin. They’re a drop style cookie, so they’re super easy to make, too! Just mix up all of the ingredients, then drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto baking sheets, and bake until they’re fluffy and slightly golden!

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Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 4 oz. stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup light Karo® Corn Syrup
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup 100% pumpkin puree
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chip morsels

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
  3. Then, add in the Karo® Corn Syrup, egg, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree.
  4. Gradually add the flour into the mixture. Then, mix in the pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  6. Drop tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto the baking sheets.
  7. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until they're puffed up and slightly golden brown around the edges.
  8. Allow to cool for a couple minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
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Did you know that Karo® Corn Syrup is the leading corn syrup brand with over 100 years of quality and trust over multiple generations? It’s now my favorite ingredient to sneak into cookie recipes for that perfect soft and chewy texture! Grab a bottle the next time you’re at the grocery store for all of your fall baking!

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If you like this recipe, you might enjoy these sweet treats as well:


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