cherry pie filling – Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees

It’s February -finally!

I love this month!

There’s so much to look forward too – my favorite chocolate holiday – Valentine’s Day – and my birthday, and this year there’s even the Olympics!

And…to make it even better…it’s a short month with spring just around the corner!

One of my favorite February flavors is the combination of chocolate and cherries – it’s so Valentine -like!

Dagmar and I put our heads together and came up with this yummy cherry chocolate cream cheese combination.

We started with our classic brownie recipe and added a cream cheese layer, topping it off with cherry pie filling. What could be easier – or tastier!

Creamy Black Forest Brownies

1 – 1/3 cup flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip
1 can cherry pie filling

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and chopped nuts together in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine the oil, eggs and vanilla together in a bowl, mixing well.

Pour the egg mix into the dry mixture and combine until just moistened. Spread into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Cool completely.

In a bowl, whip together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Carefully fold in the Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the cooled brownie. Top with the cherry pie filling.

Store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

My faithful readers know that I am a “make it homemade” kind of cook. But there are times when a boxed mix is a blessing. Since we are in the midst of moving and settling in, this was definitely one of those times!

I thought this recipe looked really fast since it only had 4 ingredients. But I discovered that it took a really long time to mix the eggs into the cake mix by hand.

Sure tasted good though!

Chocolate-Cherry Bars

1 2-layer pkg. chocolate cake mix
2 eggs. beaten
1 tsp. almond extract
1 20-oz. can cherry pie filling
1 c. confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1/3 c. milk
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Combine cake mix, eggs and flavoring in bowl; mix well by hand.

Stir in pie filling. Spoon into greased and floured 9X13-inch baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until layers tests done. Cool.

Bring mixture of confectioners’ sugar, butter and milk to a boil in saucepan.

Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly; remove from heat.

Stir in Chocolate chips until melted. Spread over baked layer.

Let stand until set. Cut into bars.

Yield: 3 dozen