Ingredients

• 1 or 2 prepared brownie mixes, depending on how much brownie you want underneath the yummy frosting (If you're planning to bake two, cut your oven temp down to 325, and bake about fifteen minutes longer than the box states)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 7 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp shortenning
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Instructions

1. Prepare brownies according to package directions and allow to cool completely before beginning icing.
2. To make icing, combine sugar, milk, shortening, margarine & salt in heavy saucepot on stovetop.
3. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring conatantly.
4. After it reaches a rolling boil, continue to boil two more minutes on stove without stirring, until it reaches soft ball stage.
5. Remove from heat, add vanilla and peanut butter.
6. Beat until smooth, then quickly spread over completely cooled brownies. This will work in a 9x13 or 8x8 pan, you'll just have more or less frosting.
7. ****Note: my frosting was a little on the thin side (I'm not sure that I boiled it long enough), so I let it cool in the freezer to thicken up a bit before frosting the brownies. Once it cooled it was perfect, but I was a little unsure to start!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (we didn't have buttermilk so I soured regular milk by mixing 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, then let sit for five minutes in the refrigerator)
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans + more for garnish optional (we don't usually add pecans, but I'm sure they would be delicious!)

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Next add in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
3. Sift dry ingredients.
4. Stir together bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.
5. Add dry ingredients to batter alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating until combined.
6. Add pecans to batter.
7. Spray cans with cooking spray or grease and flour pans. Pour batter into pans.
8. Bake at 350 for 25 - 35 minutes (mine were done right at 25), or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Place cakes on cooling rack for ten minutes, then pop out of pans and cool completely. Once cooled, add cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I usually use closer to 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• finely chopped pecans (for garnish) optional

Instructions

1. Cream butter & cream cheese together.
2. Add powdered sugar.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting, then top with pecans.
5. Refrigerate until ready to serve, refrigerate remaining cake.