Boy, its hard to believe but Christmas is in just a little under three weeks. If you are like me, I am sure you are in the middle of all of your Christmas preparations . . . baking, planning, cooking, etc. I try to be so organized each year, but every year it always catches up with me and I end up not being as organized as I thought! That is when recipes such as these Easy Lemon Brownies come in really handy. Delicious and quick to make, they are as simple as stirring a couple of things together and banging them into the oven!
Don't get all judgmental on me now . . . I am as good a baker as the next person, but let me tell you . . . cake mixes and prepared icing will always come in handy, and I . . . for one (and I know I am not alone in this) . . . happen to enjoy the convenience of these products and I am really happy that we are getting a lot more varieties of them here in the UK now!! When I first moved over here, there was very little of these types of things available! I happen to think that they produce some very tasty cakes all on their own, but I also love to use them to bake other things.
These Easy Lemon Brownies use a Betty Crocker Zesty Lemon Cake Mix and a can of Betty Crocker Zesty Lemon Icing. I was so excited to discover these newest flavours. And they also have a Spice Cake Mix now and I saw Strawberry Frosting the other day in the shops as well! (The wheels are turning!)
You simply mix the Zesty Lemon Cake Mix together with some melted butter and some beaten eggs and spread the batter in a pan. It's as simple as that!
Nothing could be easier. They only take 15 minutes in the oven . . . and before you know it they are cooling on the side board, waiting for them to cool enough so that you can spread them with that delicious Betty Crocker Zesty Lemon Icing.
I sprinkled the top with some white chocolate chips and chopped toasted walnuts to dress them up a bit. Of course you could always stir them into the batter . . . but I liked the look of them scattered over the top. I always toast my nuts. I just think that a light toasting really helps to enhance the flavor of nuts. Do let them cool before you use them though . . .
Just look at how dense and fudgy they are . . . and they have a full on lemon flavor too. I just ADORE Lemon anything, don't you? Uh huh . . . I thought so!
*Easy Lemon Brownies*Makes 16Printable Recipe
These are dense, delicious and zesty! You could stir the white chocolate chips and walnuts into the batter before baking, but I prefer to sprinkle them on top after the brownies are iced.
1 (425g) zesty lemon cake mix (makes one two layer cake)2 large free range eggs, beaten120g of butter, melted (1/2 cup)To finish:2 tub of zesty lemon buttercream frosting90g of white chocolate chips (1/2 cup)30g toasted chopped walnuts (1/4 cup)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with baking paper. Butter the baking paper. Set aside.
Dump the cake mix into a bowl. Whisk in the eggs and melted butter to thoroughly combine. Spread the batter into the pan evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, just until set. Do not overbake. It will be light golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Lift carefully from the pan to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once cold, spread the top with the zesty lemon buttercream frosting. You will not need it all. Scatter the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts over top. Cut into 16 squares. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. You can also freeze them.
These were really, really, REALLY good. So good that I (who shouldn't be really eating anything like this) ate two the day I baked them, then Todd ate two also, and then I divided up the rest into containers and gave them away, because I really don't NEED to have anything that deliciously irresitable in my house! Hot dang!
Don't say I didn't warn you! Seriously the lemon flavours of both the mix and the icing were spot on. I am going to have to go to the shops and buy another of each so I can then just bake them as a cake, because I am thinking the cake will be exceptionally tasty also. I'll make sure to bake it when the missionaries will be about. Just to make sure I don't eat it all.
You know a couple of weeks ago I was just saying how much I wished that the Betty Crocker people would get a lemon flavoured cake mix here and there it was! My wish came true! Many thanks to the people at Betty Crocker for sending me this new cake mix and the icing to try! I am so thankful to have yet another delicious flavor to add to my larder!
Dare I wish for another flavour? Hmmm . . . they have strawberry icing . . . strawberry cake mix would be good! Take Note! And a nice vanilla cake mix would also be very nice.
