We went on a short camping trip this past weekend, albeit the weather was windy and a bit drizzly. For me, camping is a time to relax, be with family, and eat a bunch of junk food we normally don’t eat. In fact, I take the kids with me to the grocery store and choose candy from the bin and fill up a plastic bag. It’s honestly the highlight of the kids’ summer.
Four “note-worthy” things happened while camping:
1. Matthew learned to ride a bike with no training wheels.
2. Grace learned to sort-of throw a Frisbee. It’s like a tomahawk throw, actually. The kids are finally beginning to get the concept of Frisbee golf.
3. Eric finally beat my dad at corn-hole. It’s a silly game if you ask me, but they love it, even though their shoulders are very sore the next day.
4. Matthew lost his front tooth. It was the 5th tooth he’s lost, not a huge deal, but how he lost it was pretty funny. He and Grace were playing tag and he accidentally rammed his tooth into the backside of Grace’s head. He came back crying (not Grace, surprisingly) and 5 minutes later, out popped the tooth. However, the tooth fairy couldn’t bring him anything that night, because she didn’t know that he was camping. (Thankfully he fell for it! We made up for it when we came home the next day and he received an extra coin under his pillow. “She remembered! She remembered!” he kept saying.)
I decided to make these brownies to take camping with us. Originally I was thinking they’d be great as a replacement for the chocolate squares in s’mores, but I thought the richness of it would be too much. As I was taking these pictures the morning we were getting ready to leave, Matthew came in and said Rexy, his stuffie, wanted to be in the picture. So here is Rexy, making his debut.
To me, these bars taste best cold, so I kept them in the cooler, but you could leave them out at room temperature and they’d still taste delicious. The brownie layer is soft, dark, and fudgy, and the truffle glaze is dense and rich, so a little does go a long way. I really do like the jam in them, as they add a nice kick. You could use seedless or seeded, whatever your preference. And they are very addicting, so keeping them in the cooler helped me not munch on them all afternoon. Take them to the next potluck or barbecue. I promise they will be eaten quickly. Enjoy! xoxo
Raspberry Truffle Brownie Bars
Brownies
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¾ c cocoa
1 ¾ c sugar
¾ t salt
⅔ cup raspberry jam
¼ t raspberry flavoring (optional)*
1 c flour
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Raspberry Truffle Glaze
¼ raspberry jam
¾ c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 T light corn syrup
2 T unsalted butter
1 t salt
¼ t raspberry flavoring (optional)*
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13 glass pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, gently mix the cooled butter, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, jam, and flavoring, until all combined. Stir the flour, eggs, and chocolate chips. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the batter comes out with few crumbs. The brownies will be slightly giggly in the middle. Cool fully on a wire rack before adding the truffle glaze.
To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until all is combined and fully melted. Pour over the cooled brownies. Using an off-set spatula, spread the glaze to all corners, covering the brownies evenly. Cool completely before cutting into bars and serving.
I like these best cold, so feel free to put in the fridge before serving. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
*NOTE: I like LorAnn Oils, and used the raspberry flavor. (They come in 1 fluid dram bottles.) It’s highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. Taste-test your batter to see if you’d like to add more flavoring. If you don’t have this, you can use 1 t raspberry flavor for the brownies and ½ t raspberry flavoring for the glaze.