Birthday Brownies

This year birthdays have been tough to celebrate. Our family decided to hold one dinner to celebrate all six birthdays in our little clan. I was to bring these marinated veggies I've become famous for in our family, dinner rolls, and the dessert. And in true Katie fashion, I decided to make five different types of brownies to reflect the tastes of each family member (yes five not six - my sister is gluten free and requested that I not make a version for her). So I made the following:

• Cheesecake Brownies for my mom
• Andes Candies Mint Brownies for my dad
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownies for my brother-in-law
• Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel Brownies for my husband
• Black Forest Brownies for me

I cheated a bit since there were so many varieties to make. I used two boxed brownie mixes as the base, canned cherry pie filling for the Black Forest brownies, and Sea Salt Caramel ice cream topping, but did make the cheesecake filling on my own that I adapted from a recipe I found on Pinterest. And I did add some green candy-melt stripes to the mint brownies to add a fun visual.

I regrettably didn't get a photo of the finished tray of brownies so it's a little silly to post about them, but it was such an interesting backing project and felt like it needed to be documented. I was a bit rushed for time after my first batch of dinner rolls suffered a massive yeast failure, so I didn't get a photo of them either. While the second batch of rolls was baking, I whipped up some butters to accompany them. I made a garlic and herb butter and a SBFK Smoked Maple Syrup butter. So good!

My parents went all out and rented cafe tables for each couple and set them up strategically around their deck, with matching linens, candlelight, and even speakers for dinner music. It was a really lovely meal and it was nice to be able to celebrate each other during this weird time in our lives.