Mike and I had several premium candy choices left over from this Halloween, among them fun-sized Snickers (let’s be honest, they should just be called bite-size) and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. What better to do with leftover chocolate than to stuff it into brownies, then chop up some more and sprinkle it over the top of said brownies?
This recipe is adapted from one I found at Averie Cooks; I actually made a double batch, but the measurements below would yield one single 8 x 8 pan. You can use regular cocoa powder if you like, but I went with Hershey’s Special Dark, which is actually just Dutch processed cocoa. You’ll also notice that the recipe contains both coffee and espresso powder, which really enhances the flavor of chocolate without making it taste like coffee itself. One of the great mysteries of flavors, no?
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled for about 1 minute
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee (it’s fine to use leftover coffee from the morning)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup flour
- 12 fun-sized Snickers bars
- 8 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cut into quarters
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking tin with foil and spray with baking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and coffee and mix well to combine. Whisk in cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt until well blended, then add flour and mix until just combined; you don’t want to over-mix your batter.
Pour about 2/3 of the mixture into your prepared tin. Take 8 of the Snickers bars and 8 Peanut Butter Cup quarters, placing them in four evenly spaced rows of four candies each; I alternated my rows so there was one of Snickers, then one of Peanut Butter Cups, then another of Snickers, and a final one of Peanut Butter Cups. Pour the remaining batter over the candy and smooth as much as possible with an offset spatula. Chop up remaining candies and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for about 30-32 minutes, being very careful not to over-bake. Brownies are done when a cake tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Remove from oven and cool in pan completely before cutting.
Remove from pan and cut into 25 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 