DIY Birthday Cake Frosted Brownies

Hey everyone!

It's been a little while since I have had time to experiment in the kitchen, but last weekend I finally got the chance to do just that! I wanted to come up with something more than just my normal cookies, so I looked up some ideas for brownies and tweaked the recipes I found with my own touches! What it turned out to be: brownies from scratch with homemade birthday cake flavored frosting. YUM! Here's how you make them:

What you'll need:
- 9x13 pan
- cooking spray
- 2 large mixing bowls
- kitchen aid mixer or beater
- spatula

Brownies:
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter unsalted
- 2 cups graulated sugar
- 2 cups cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs

Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter unsalted
- 1/3 cup yellow cake mix
- 4 tbsp milk (and have on hand to add PRN)
- 1 tbsp vanilla

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray your 9x13 pan with cooking spray
3. Combine semisweet chocolate chips and butter into a microwave safe mixing bowl. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until consistency is smooth
4. Combine cocoa, granulated and brown sugar, and salt into a separate bowl and sift together well
5. Add dry mix into chocolate mix and combine using a spatula
6. Add in the 3 eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla, beat on medium with a mixer
7. Slowly add in the flower, making sure all is mixed in from side and bottom of the bowl
8. Place brownie mix into 9x13 pan
9. Bake for 24-28 minutes or until fork comes out mostly clean
10. Prepare frosting by mixing all ingredients together. Add milk as needed.
11. Let brownies cool. Frost frosting over the top of the brownies.
12. Place in fridge for 30 minutes before cutting and serving brownies.

The recipe I was following for the most part did not include oil, and when I got to the end of mixing everything, the batter just looked too dry so I added the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil to help make them more moist. They turned out great! I don't usually LOVE brownies from scratch, because IMO the box kind are amazing so why mess with a good thing? But I do like making things from scratch, and these turned out well. I don't know if I would love them as much without the frosting, but they were great as made above! Baking is such a relaxation tool for me. It really does help me chill out and focus on task oriented things. Any recipes you think I should try? Or any type of baked good you think I should try to experiment with? Let me know!

Thanks for reading,
Olivia :)