#1,874: Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

I was looking for a really easy, quick, and (hopefully) tasty dessert to take to a friend's house, and I had every ingredient on hand for this recipe, so I figured I'd give it a try.  Simple is definitely the word for this recipe!  I whipped this together literally in about 5 minutes (I put the butter in the microwave to soften it).  One of my girls helped me make it too!  This is really good for being such a simple recipe.  I LOVE peanut butter though so rarely can I make something with peanut butter and not like it.  This isn't the best dessert I've ever had, but I certainly enjoyed it.  

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup peanut butter and milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place butter and peanut butter in a large bowl and stir until smooth. Add sugars and stir until combined. Add eggs and stir until incorporated. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

Place peanut butter batter in prepared pan and spread evenly. (Batter will be thick) Sprinkle peanut butter and milk chocolate chips on top of batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until brownies are set.

Cool and cut into squares to serve.

#1,789: Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

I originally made these to take to book club with me, but Brian and I had to get up early the next day to give a presentation for a grant we won and I decided it was best to stay home and go to bed early.  Plus my mom was in town and I didn't want to leave her home too.  So my mom and I enjoyed a few of these (hers with a scoop of ice cream on top) and I took the rest to share with some of my teaching team members.

The original recipe has you made homemade brownies, and although I'm not opposed to that at all, I was taking the lazy route and used a box mix.  I made these in my brownie pan from Pampered Chef so all of these have nice edges to them.  I also used my Pampered Chef mini tart shaper to push a hole/well into the center of these and where I put the peanut butter filling.

These are really, really good brownies.  They are a little bit addicting and it's hard to stop after eating one.  Or at least it was for me.

I omitted these ingredients and used a box mix (with oil, egg, and water) instead.
3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon water

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 large egg*

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease 12 muffin cups.

I omitted this step and made a box mix of brownies.  In a medium sized microwave-safe bowl combine sugar, softened butter, and water. Microwave on high for about 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Stir in 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted. Stir in egg and vanilla extract, mix well. Add flour and baking soda, stir until combined. Allow the batter to cool to room temperature (doesn’t take very long). Then, stir in 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into center comes out slightly wet. After brownies are out of the oven, wait for centers to fall. This should happen upon cooling. If not (they did not for me) then tap the centers with the back of a teaspoon or a mini tart maker to make a hole for the peanut butter.

Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds then stir. While brownies are still warm spoon about a tablespoon full of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with remaining semi-sweet chocolate chips. Cool completely in pan.

Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. To reheat the brownies just pop ’em in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

#1,618: Low Calorie Greek Yogurt Brownies

I found this recipe on a Facebook Group and it claims that these brownies are only 37 calories each.  I did not go through the effort to check to make sure this is correct though.  These were really easy to make, but my kids didn't like them at all and I thought they were just ok.  Would I make these again?  No.  Would I eat one if someone put it in front of me...of course.  :) 

3/4 c nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 c skim milk
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 c old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c sugar substitute
1 egg
1/3 c applesauce
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a square 8x8 baking dish with non stick spray (I used my square brownie/muffin pan).  Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth (about 1 minute).  Pour into the prepared dish and bake for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into 9 squares.  

#1,538: Zucchini brownies (flourless and paleo)

My husband still won't try these brownies because he knows I didn't make normal brownies and since I won't tell him what's in these, he doesn't trust me enough to actually eat one.  The girls loved these and so did I.  They are really good although they do taste a little different than a traditional brownie.

I had to bake mine for about 40 minutes and personally I think it would have been better even longer.  The thinner this is, the more it tastes like traditional brownies.  The thicker ones have a mushier texture, which is still good but you can tell they are not regular brownies. 

I made these in a pampered chef mini brownie molds...see the next post for more info!

1 cup almond butter
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/3 cup raw honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour into a greased 9x9 baking pan. (I used a pampered chef mini brownie pan).  Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

#1,491: Cookie Dough Brownies

Mmmm...doesn't that look good?  I wish I had a better picture to post of this one, but I literally remembered that I needed to take a picture as I was about to eat the last piece.  This is all you get folks!  Sorry.  

This went over very well with my family, but especially with my kids.  I wasn't sure I was going to love this frosting because it has flour in it (gasp!), but it was good.  I did add more water to thin this out and make it more like a frosting (sort of).  I also was super lazy and omitted a lot of the brownie ingredient and used a box mix (gasp again!).  Yes I am lazy.  Still delicious though.  

Brownies:
I omitted the original recipe ingredients and made a box mix instead.  If you want the real ingredients/recipe click here.

Frosting :

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1¼ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

5 TB milk (I used probably close to double this if not more.  I just kept adding a little more milk at a time until it was still thick like frosting, but thinner and more to my liking). 

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Make brownies in a 9x13 pan according to your mix/box directions.  Let cool completely.

FROSTING: Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir until fully combined. Stir in the milk and beat until fluffy. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Spread on cooled brownies. 

#1,474: Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies

These brownies are so good, but they are SO not healthy.  The recipe below says to make this in a 8x8 pan, but I bought a family size box of brownies so I made it in a 9x13 pan instead. I will definitely be making these again!  YUM!

1 box Brownie Mix

eggs and oil (as called for by the brownie mix)

Heaping 1/2 cup (6 oz) Cookies and Cream ice cream (I used more like 1 c)

1/4 Cup hot fudge topping 

1 pkg Oreo cookies

Preheat oven according to directions on the box and spray an 8×8 baking dish generously with cooking spray.

Combine brownie mix, eggs, and oil as directed on the back of the box, but do not add the water. Add ice cream and hot fudge to the brownie batter and stir to combine.

Pour half of the brownie batter into the baking dish, layer with Oreos, then top with remaining batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes or as directed on the back of the box.

#1,467: Oreo Brownie Cupcake

Matthew turns 3 today.  (Big sob)  How is this boy turning three already?!  Wasn't I just pregnant with him?  Sigh....

Anyhow, I decided to make a recipe that I've been dying to try since it combines two of his favorite things...brownies and cookies.  His daddy was more than willing to test these as soon as they came out of the oven too.  The original recipe I found for these were even better because they add peanut butter on top of each Oreo (heaven!).  But Matthew is allergic to peanut butter so we omitted it from this recipe.  I debated about using almond butter but was honestly too lazy to add it.  

These are SO good.  They were super simple to make and I ended up getting 12 cupcakes plus a small cake pan with the leftover cookies and batter.  Stupidly I forgot to spray the cake pan with non-stick spray so I can't get the dang cookies/brownies out, but whatever.

These did stick a little bit to my liners as well so you might want to spray those a bit too.  

1 Box Brownie Mix (plus ingredients listed on box!)

24 Oreo cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line up your 12 cup cupcake/muffin tray with paper liners. 

Prepare your brownie mix according to the directions on the box.

Place 2 Oreo’s on top of each other into the cupcake tray. Spoon 2 tablespoons of brownie batter over the Oreos and let it run down the sides of the cookies. Bake cookies and brownies between 18 to 20 minutes, until the brownies are cooked through. Let cool, then serve.

#862: Black Bean Brownies (only 2 ingredients!)

Did the name scare you off??  It shouldn't.  These healthy brownies are delicious and chewy and moist.  I love these!  You can tell there is something different to these brownies because of the texture but you sure can't taste the beans in them at all.  I will definitely make these again!

I made a brownie glaze (out of butter, chocolate chips, water and powdered sugar) but I only used a tiny, tiny amount because I thinned it out so much.

15 oz can of black beans
brownie mix (any)

Open the can of black beans, rinse really well. Put the beans back in the can, add enough water to cover beans.  Put in blender or food processor and puree. Add puree to brownie mix, and then bake according to package directions.

You DO NOT add the eggs or oil that the recipe calls for, JUST the black bean puree!
Makes 20 brownies-- 2 Weight Watcher Points each