Peanut Butter Brownie Puppy Chow

 

Be warned - this is super addicting! 

Ingredients

·         6 C. rice Chex cereal (I found peanut butter Chex and used that)

·         1 C. milk chocolate chips or melts

·         1/2 C. peanut butter creamy

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1 to 2 C. brownie mix from the box (dry) 

·         Optional: Brownies, Reese's Pieces, or Peanut butter cups (chopped)

Instructions:

Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

In a microwave proof bowl, melt chocolate, peanut butter and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Pour over cereal and fold until covered.

Dump into a large plastic bag and add brownie mix, seal and shake until coated. (If you don't have a large plastic bag, pour brownie mix over cereal and stir well. Or you can use a pot with a lid to shake it in.)

Toss in whatever chocolate or peanut butter candy pieces you want. I did peanut butter M&Ms, fudge brownie M&Ms and Reese’s pieces.  Shake again.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of boxed brownie mix. I found that didn’t coat the cereal mixture very well, so I added more. Then I made an 8x8 pan of brownies with the remaining mix. You could crumble those into the puppy chow too.

Reese’s Double Brookies

Review by Lyndee:

A Reese's Oreo stuffed between a brownie and a peanut butter chip cookie, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Yes, it’s rich and decadent and fattening but it may be the best brownie/cookie combo I’ve ever made. I found this on the Chef In Training blog and if I could hug her for sharing it, I would.  

INGREDIENTS

1 Pk Reese’s Oreo Cream Cookies

1 Box brownie mix

1 Large egg

⅓ C Vegetable oil

¼ C Milk

For the cookie

½ C (1 stick) Unsalted butter

½ C Light brown sugar

½ C Sugar

1 Large egg

2 tsp Pure vanilla extract

1¾ C All-purpose flour

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking soda

¾ C Peanut Butter Chips

12 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium sized bowl, combine brownie mix, egg, vegetable oil and milk. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Line a 9x13” pan with parchment paper or a baking mat. Pour brownie mixture over the baking mat and spread evenly. Set Oreo cookies in a line over top of the brownie mix.

For the cookie

Soften butter in the microwave 10-15 seconds. Combine butter with both light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix until smooth and mixture becomes fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until egg is thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add flour mixture to dough batter while mixing at a low speed. Once all the flour has been added, increase speed to medium until dough forms.

Chop Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups into small pieces. Add all but ¼ C into the cookie dough. Add peanut butter chips and fold into cookie dough. Take the cookie dough and drop chunks onto the top of the brownie mixture, gently pressing them down into brownie batter. Add remaining ¼ C Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and press gently onto the top of the cookie dough.

Bake for 23-25 minutes at 350°F. Test the middle with a toothpick to make sure the batter is cooked.  If not, put back in the oven for a few more minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.

To make this a super simple dessert I used a pre-made peanut butter cookie dough and mini size Reese’s peanut butter cups so I didn’t have to chop anything up.  These were amazing to say the least.  So rich and who doesn’t love a chocolate and peanut butter combination?  

Healthified brownies

Review by Lyndee:

Tonight I had a hankering for brownies.  I had a mix in the cupboard but didn’t want full fat.  I was out of black beans but I did have applesauce.  I’ve heard that a lot of people swap applesauce for oil when making cakes and other baked goods so I did a little online research and sure enough, found you can do it with brownies too.  The posts I found suggested doubling the amount. If your mix calls for ¼ cup of oil, use ½ a cup of applesauce. 

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix

2 eggs

¼ cup water

1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a cake pan.  Mix your ingredients according to the directions.  Bake. 

I decided to get crazy and mix up a serving of PB2 and add a little peanut butter to half the brownies for some fun flavor.  PB2 is a healthier version of peanut butter (40 calories versus 190 and minimal fat).  You take two tablespoons of the powder and mix with 1 tablespoon of water.  I mixed that together and added a few dollops to the brownies.

The batter tasted normal and they looked fine when I put them in the oven. I baked for the required time and took them out.  They looked a little “bubbly”.  Like there were little mini air-holes in the batter.  They taste pretty good.  Obviously not the same chewy consistency of normal brownies but like brownies just the same.  And I knew they were so much healthier for me.  I think next time I would bake them in an 8x8 pan instead of a 9 x 13 so they were a little thicker.