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Category: recipes

Easy Red Wine Brownies

Easy, delicious and fudgy red wine brownies. The perfect Valentine’s Day dessert idea, girl’s night treat, or mid-week pick me up! You are going to love how seriously quick and simple this recipe is. Serve with ice cream and my red wine chocolate sauce for the ultimate wine-lovers dessert!

Whenever I do a poll on Instagram asking what recipes you’d like to see, recipes with red wine always make the list! And especially red wine and chocolate. So here we are! Deep, rich, delicious chocolate? Check! Full, deep and fruity wine flavor? Check!

I definitely wanted this red wine brownie recipe to have a noticeable red wine flavor. I mean otherwise, what’s the point? So I have two great options for you:

1) Use port! Port is a naturally sweet, red fortified wine. If you love red wine, I’m going to guess that you’ll also love port. Because it has a stronger flavor, more of that deliciousness comes through in the brownies. You can find port at your local grocery store in the wine section, and it is usually not expensive. I used this port from Maryhill Winery, since it’s my current favorite!

2) Make a red wine reduction! If you’d rather use your favorite red wine, you can easily reduce it on the stove. This will help concentrate the flavors so that you really taste them in your brownies. It’s super simple to do, and you can read about how I reduced red wine in this recipe for Merlot Chocolate Truffles. I’d recommend using any wine that usually pairs well with dark chocolate, such as Merlot, Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Brownie Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cups cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup port (or red wine reduction – see note above)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish, and line with parchment paper. I like to create an overhang of parchment paper for super easy removal.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, port, vanilla and eggs. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, stirring with a spatula until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish, and bake 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.

Serve with ice cream and chocolate wine sauce! 

Chocolate Wine Sauce Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup port (or red wine reduction)

Chocolate Wine Sauce Directions: 

Combine the heavy cream and chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in port, and serve immediately.

Sweet, Spicy & Salty Bourbon Glazed Peanuts

These amazing sweet, spicy and salty bourbon glazed peanuts are perfect for baseball games, football watching parties (Super Bowl, anyone?), or enjoying with a movie! Incredibly quick and easy, these delicious nuts are sure to be a hit at your next party. The woodsy and peppery rosemary compliments both the warm Brown Sugar Bourbon and spicy cayenne perfectly – these nuts are a flavor explosion with every bite!

bourbon glazed peanuts
 

Peach Bellini Cupcakes

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you’ve all been having a wonderful holiday season, and it’s not over yet! New Years Eve is just a few days away, and I’m so excited to ring in a new decade!

These super easy peach bellini cupcakes are the perfect champagne inspired dessert for however you plan to celebrate! Whether it’s with a full blown party or pajamas on the couch watching movies (that will be me!), you’ll love these fun and festive cupcakes. Full of fresh fruity peach flavor, and topped with delicious champagne frosting, these are the perfect New Years treat.

Gingerbread Cake with Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

Do you love gingerbread? Me too! Spicy, moist and festive – this Gingerbread cake is all the delicious gingerbread flavors in cake form! The perfect dessert for Christmas dinners and New Years festivities. This cake is sure to become everyone’s new favorite dessert. Including the busy cook, since it takes just a few minutes to come together and is beautiful to present!

 

Cranberry Jalapeno Poppers

Holiday desserts are great (Cranberry Orange Cake anyone?), but what I reallllly love about the holidays are the delicious appetizers. All the dips over here, please! So I’m really excited to share this super yummy appetizer with you! These Cranberry Jalapeno Poppers are a little sweet, a little spicy, and very cheesy!

With just a handful of ingredients, these jalapeno poppers couldn’t be easier! I love the flavor of the cranberries and jalapenos together, and I really love the flavor of the cranberries and cumin together. Add in the chives, cilantro and the yum factor goes sky high!

Makes 16 Rolls

Ingredients: 

2 cans crescent rolls (I like Annie’s)
8 oz block of full-fat cream cheese
6 Tablespoons dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons chives, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions: 

Preheat the oven per the crescent roll directions. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Combine all the ingredients except the rolls in a medium sized mixing bowl, and stir together with a spatula until well combined. Spoon a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into the wide end of each crescent roll, and roll toward the point. Bake about 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot!

This Celebrated Life