Ice Cream Cone Brownies

Looks like ice cream? 

Two baking experiments in one week? It's been a good week.

Like I said in my last post, I've been watching way too much Cupcake Wars lately and saw someone make cupcakes in ice cream cone cups, complete with frosting to look like ice cream. I instantly thought I HAVE TO TRY THAT. It also happened to be my roommate's birthday party this weekend, so I thought it would be the perfect birthday dessert for him.

At the last minute though, I decided to switch it up and put brownies in the cones instead since I've been making so many cupcakes lately. For the frosting, I picked a peanut butter buttercream because peanut butter always goes well with brownies.

Brownies pre-frosting

Cross section of the finished product!

A friend helped me out with making these (and taking the pictures), and it's a lot easier (and more fun) to bake with someone else! 

I was worried that the cones would come out soggy, but that wasn't a problem at all. They came out as crispy as when I put them in. I also ended up with A LOT of leftover frosting with the recipe below. I probably could have cut the recipe in half and still had more than enough. I put out the extra frosting with the brownies and people ended up scooping up extra frosting for their brownies, so that worked out. These all disappeared pretty quickly during the party, so it seems like they were a hit!

Ice Cream Cone Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting (makes ~20)

Brownies: 

• 1 box of brownie mix (for these, I used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 20 ice cream cone cups (flat bottom) 

Peanut Butter Buttercream (recipe from here)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 pinch of salt
• Sprinkles for decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the brownie mix with the eggs, milk, and oil. 
3. Cover the cupcake pans with tin foil and poke a hole over each cup. Insert an ice cream cone in each hole (the foil is to keep the cones upright so they don't tip over when you're moving them in and out of the oven). 
4. Fill the cones about 2/3 full (so the base of the cone is filled). 
5. Bake the brownies in the cones for 30-40 minutes (or until an inserted fork comes out clean). 
6. Mix up the frosting while the brownies bake. Combine the butter and peanut butter first with a mixer, and then add the sugar, cream, and salt. Beat until combined and the frosting is light and fluffy. 
7. Once the brownies are done and cool, pipe on the frosting to look like ice cream. Add on sprinkles for decoration.