Cooking: Quick & Easy Brownies W/ Creamy Frosting

I'm a big, big fan of desserts, and I'm always on the look-out for quick and easy recipes that don't require fancy ingredients. As much as I think these brownies are the best I have ever tasted, I don't always have chocolate chips on hands so I browsed the net for an alternative recipe and I found this one on HERSHEY's website. Of course, they recommend to use HERSHEY'S Cocoa but hey, who cares?

You will need:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs (vegan? use applesauce or banana instead!)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• creamy brownie frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 9-inch square baking pan, then stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs and beat well with spoon.

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired (I did not use nuts).

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Now the best part, it's time to prepare the brownie frosting, yum!

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 3 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey (I used honey but you can barely taste it anyway)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk 

Simply beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended, then add powdered sugar and milk and beat to spreading consistency. Spread over brownies, cut into squares and enjoy!

Looking for more vegetarian recipes? Check out my cooking page!

Modified recipe from Hersheys.com