Brownie Beach

Enjoy some summertime fun in the kitchen with your kids baking and decorating a Brownie Beach, a gooey chocolate Pillsbury™ Brownie topped with peanut butter frosting and cookie crumb sand and a swirl of blue and white frosting waves.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pillsbury™. The opinions and text are all mine.

A day in the kitchen baking and creating together with your family can be as entertaining as a day at the beach. If you are looking for something fun to bake with your kids this summer, you've got to try this Brownie Beach. It's so simple to make using a Pillsbury™ Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix. You can have this beach cake decorated in less time than it could take to gather up all your family's flip flops, beach towels, bathing suits, and sunscreen for a day at the beach.

I'm happiest when I'm spending time in the kitchen creating cute food or when I'm at the beach with friends and family. So, imagine how excited I was to combine two of the things that bring me so much joy into one fun summertime dessert. I know your family will love it too.

Start out by baking a Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix in a 9 x 13 inch pan. So easy, am I right? To decorate, simply create the beach using  Pillsbury Jif® Peanut Butter Frosting sprinkled with lots of cookie crumbs and the ocean waves using Pillsbury Aqua Blue Vanilla Frosting and Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Vanilla Frosting. If you want you can even craft little candy crabs out of store bought taffy or homemade candy clay and place them on the beach.

Watch this video and see how to make this Brownie Beach...

How much would your family love making this Beach Brownie together?

Doesn't it look cute on the table surrounded by beach themed candies and some party ware? It's so easy to decorate a table for a pool party or beach themed party using beach pails and sand castle toys and it doesn't cost much either.

There are so many ways to add special touches to this ocean themed brownie too.  I love the little candy crabs that are hanging out on my brownie beach, but you can add candy fish, gummy sharks, chocolate shells, little paper umbrellas, or even footprints to your dessert.

Supplies You'll Need to Make a Brownie Beach:

You can find these Pillsbury items in the baking aisle at Kroger and see lots of really amazing recipes, here.

• Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
• Pillsbury Jif Peanut Butter Frosting
• cookie or graham cracker crumbs
• Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Vanilla Frosting
• Pillsbury Funfetti Aqua Blue Vanilla Frosting
• Optional: candy crabs made from red taffy (or red candy clay) and candy eyes

How to make a Brownie Beach Cake:

• Make your Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie in a 9x13 pan.
• To make the beach:
  • Spread Pillsbury Jif Peanut Butter Frosting over about ½ of the cake and sprinkle cookie crumbs over top.
  • You can use store bought peanut butter, sugar, or vanilla wafer cookies or graham crackers to make your sand.
  • You'll get the finest crumbs if you pulse the cookies in a food processor.
  • Don't have a food processor? Then place the cookies in a zip top bag and smash them using a rolling pin, a meat mallet, or the back of a pan.
• To make the ocean:
  • Spread Pillsbury Funfetti Aqua Blue Frosting over the remainder of the brownie.
  • Spread some Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Vanilla Frosting in a few spots over the blue.
  • Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to blend the white and blue frosting together.
  • You want the ocean to look like it has waves in it, so don't be neat here. Leave spikes of frosting in your ocean.

• To make the candy crabs using red taffy or red candy clay (modeling chocolate):
  • If you are using taffy, you might need to heat the candy in the microwave on the DEFROST setting for about 5 seconds in order to soften it enough to work with.
  • Pinch off about a teaspoon of candy and roll it into a ball.
  • Roll three long ropes of the candy for the legs and one rope that is about twice and thick for the claws.
  • Flatten the tips of the thicker rope then use scissors to make a short cut creating the crab's claws.
  • Arrange the legs in a row then pinch them together in the middle.
  • Attach a round ball (body) on top of the legs.
  • Attach two candy eyes near the top of the body.
  • Set the candy crabs on the sandy beach on your brownie.
    • NOTES: The pieces of my crabs held together well enough to move them onto the beach cake. If you want them to hold together a bit more permanently then you might want to use some clear piping gel to attach the legs together, the body to the legs, and to attach the eyes.

5 from 5 votes

Print

Brownie Beach

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Cooling TIme

1 hr

Total Time

45 mins

 

A fudgy chocolate brownie decorated with peanut butter frosting and cookie crumb sand alongside a blue and white frosting ocean. 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beach cake, brownie

Servings: 15

Author: Beth

Ingredients

Brownie

• 1 Pillsbury™ Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
• ¼ cup water
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs

Decorations

• ½ tub Pillsbury Jif® Peanut Butter Frosting
• ¼ cup cookie or graham cracker crumbs
• ½ tub Pillsbury™ Funfetti Aqua Blue Vanilla Frosting
• 3 tablespoons Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme Vanilla Frosting
• Optional: candy crabs made from red taffy or red candy clay and candy eyes

Instructions

Brownie

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Mix together brownie mix, water, oil, and eggs just until combined. 

3. Pour into a non-stick tin foil or parchment paper lined 9x13 inch baking pan.

   
   

4. Bake for 18-22 minutes until the edges look set. 

5. Remove from oven and cool completely for about an hour. 

6. Remove brownie from pan and set on a cake board or cutting board. 

7. Spread Pillsbury Jif Peanut Butter Frosting over about ½ of the cake.

8. Sprinkle cookie crumbs over the frosting. 

   
   

9. Spread Pillsbury Funfetti Aqua Blue Vanilla Frosting over the remaining cake. 

10. Add small dollops of Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Vanilla Frosting over the blue frosting.

11. Use an offset spatula or spoon to swirl the blue and white frosting together making the frosting look like ocean waves with some peaks. 

12. If desired, crafts some candy crabs (see the video and tutorial above for instructions) and set them on the sandy beach. 

13. Serve and enjoy. 

Have fun making this Brownie Beach Cake with your family this summer. If you make one and share it online be sure to link back to this recipe post, mention Hungry Happenings, and use #hungryhappenings.

• Author
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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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