Momma Told Me: Brownie Ghosts- So Simple, It's Scary!

Simple Brownie Ghosts: Simple Directions: Start with brownies- I do not care how you get brownies, I won't tell if you slaved over them for hours or not. Cut them into squares about 2" in width. Place 1 Jumbo Marshmallow atop each brownie square. Place the pre-made frosting of your choice into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high at 5 second increments until it can be stirred into an even liquid format. Spoon melted frosting over your mallows, allowing it to drip down the side like flowy ghost 'sheets.' Squirt some black food color or decorating gel on a plate and daub the end of a chopstick/skewer/cake pop rod (etc) into the black and daub tiny faces on your ghosts. Refrigerate until serving and enjoy!

Momma Told Me: It's almost scary how easy it is.

If Momma taught me one thing in the kitchen it's that, as good as it is to go all out and impress people with your mad skills in the kitchen, it's even better to enjoy the praise knowing you've created something amazing with hardly any effort at all. Some people call them 'hacks' or shortcuts, but there's no shame in grabbing a boxed mix from the baking aisle when your 4th grader announces she needs treats for a class of 25, by tomorrow morning. You still want to be the cool mom, right- but you don't want to be the mom who's cool because she's perfected her 'living zombie' walk after slaving in the kitchen until 4 am.

Yes, there are things, awesome, amazing, life changing, things you find on Pinterest and file away for 'next year,' thinking one day you'll get around to them. And, of course, you never do. How many of those ideas on Pinterest look so easy and logical until you're several hours into a '10 minute' recipe and scrubbing dough off the ceiling? This, my friends is not one of those concepts. Anyone, yes, even your 5 year old, can assemble these Simple Brownie Ghosts, whether you bake the brownies from scratch, use a box mix, or hack up some squares from store-bought brownies, I'm not telling....

This idea is so simple, my friends, that I adapted it to an (almost) sugar free version for the sugar intolerant folks in my Thursday night bowling league. Am I Betty Crocker? No! I caught some Pillsbury Sugar Free Brownie Mix and Sugar Free Frosting on sale at my local grocery store. Viola- the only sugar ingredient was my Jumbo marshmallows! Are you ready for the super simple directions to these adorably wicked treats?

Simple Directions: Start with brownies- I do not care how you get brownies, I won't tell if you slaved over them for hours or not. Cut them into squares about 2" in width. Place 1 Jumbo Marshmallow atop each brownie square. Place the pre-made frosting of your choice into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high at 5 second increments until it can be stirred into an even liquid format. Spoon melted frosting over your mallows, allowing it to drip down the side like flowy ghost 'sheets.' Squirt some black food color or decorating gel on a plate and daub the end of a chopstick/skewer/cake pop rod (etc) into the black and daub tiny faces on your ghosts. Refrigerate until serving and enjoy!

It's really as simple as that- you can't go wrong. In fact, the messier the better, so go ahead an let your children pour the frosting and daub those faces. Some of my faces 'ran' from the warmth of the frosting and added even more character. These were a huge hit at my league, and just $5 served about 40 people a brownie bite each. If you want to get REAL fancy, use some seasonal toothpicks to decorate and make picking up the bites a little simpler for your guests.

What Daughter Says: If it tastes great and looks adorable, nobody will care how long it didn't take you to make them!