Birthday Festivities and THREE DESSERTS????

This weekend was allll about my boyfriend because it was his birthday the other day and we finally got to celebrate together!

We had a cute little picnic and played video games all day and it was perfect.

So for his birthday, I made him an apple pie and chocolate covered strawberries! I'm going to share those recipes as well as a brownie recipe that is so good it just needs to be shared with you all.

Okay y'all let's not waste any time getting into this. These brownies are the best brownies I've ever had. I've tried countless recipes and I always come crawling back to this one.

I make these at least once a month. Probably even more than that.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it's by someone named Angie. That's all the information there is unfortunately.

Here's the ingredients!

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1-2 cups candy 

It also gives you a recipe for frosting to put on the brownies but I don't ever make that so If you would like to, just click on the recipe in the link above :-) 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease and flour an 8 inch pan (I use a round one) 
2. In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. I find it's easier to heat up the butter in the microwave in a little ramekin! Stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Make sure the butter isn't too hot when you add the eggs or it will start to cook them!
3. Mix in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.
4. Now this is where I like to add a little something to my batter. CANDY. Reeses Pieces or peanut butter M&M's are really good in these. Today I'll be adding just regular M&M's which are just as great! Mix in a cup or 2 of your candy of choice. 
5. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. 
6. Let cool before cutting! ENJOY. 

Now for the birthday dessert! The apple pie recipe is from Taste of Home.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning (instead of 1/4 tsp ginger and nutmeg)
• 6 to 7 cups peeled and sliced apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• pastry for double crust (9 inches)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large egg white
• additional sugar (for crust)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine sugars, flour and spices. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture and toss to coat. 
2. Line 9 inch pie plate with bottom crust, trim to b even with edge. Fill with apple mixture and dot with butter. Roll out remaining dough for the top crust. Place over filling, trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry. 
3. Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar and cover edges loosely with foil. 
4. Bake at 375℉ for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. 
5. Cool on wire rack. 

The chocolate covered strawberries are pretty self explanatory! All you need are some strawberries and some semi sweet chocolate.

I also (of course) forgot to take a picture after they were dipped but they sure do look pretty when they're drying!

 Directions:

1. Wash and lay out strawberries. (they need to be completely dry before you dip them into the chocolate)
2. Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a simmer. Put a bowl of the chocolate on top of that and stir until chocolate has melted. 
3. Dip strawberries in chocolate and lay on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Let them set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Thank's for reading! I hope you enjoy these delicious, (mainly) chocolatey treats as much as I do!