Ooey, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter brownies, tucked neatly into a decorative gift tin. make a wonderful Christmas gift for friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers.
I've whipped up this easy-to-make delicious Betty Crocker dessert for gifts in the past.
These little peanut buttery gems never fail to elicit squeals of delight. It's definitely more unexpected than traditional Christmas cookies.
Many of the world's greatest discoveries have been by accident. I mean, look at The Reese's Peanut Cup. Or Botox." — Tina Fey
Even more fun than baking the treats is picking out festive gift tins and decorating the outside with Holiday infused ribbons and bows.
Note: Recipe by Betty Crocker Kitchens
Ingredients
Before baking, assemble all of your ingredients, mixing bowls, measuring cups, and spoons.
It's easier if you have everything ready to go before you begin. It speeds your baking time and may minimize the use of unnecessary mixing tools.
Note: To cut baking time, pre-measure the brown sugar and set it aside in a bowl with a lid.
Combine the dry ingredients such as the Gold Medal™ flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pour all the dry ingredients into a large sealable plastic bag.
- 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter or substitute, melted
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (any brand you wish)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup of Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 36 miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped (19.75-oz pkg)
- Cut 12 of the unwrapped miniature Reese's into fourths (about 3/4th cup)
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Optional Ingredient
After some experimenting with the original recipe, I added powdered sugar to the ingredient list. I sprinkled a little bit on top of each brownie after it cooled. It was a wonderful decorative finish.
I also discovered it was helpful to have an extra bag of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on hand for all the kitchen interlopers sneaking by to swipe a few samples of the irresistible candies.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (if using a dark or nonstick pan, heat oven to 325 degrees).
- Grease the bottom and the sides of a 13"x9" pan with shortening. Or spray with cooking spray.
Mix The Ingredients With Electric Mixer Or Processor
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer or processor to mix the brown sugar, melted butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and eggs on medium speed until well-mixed.
- You can use a spoon if you prefer, but you must completely mix all the ingredients.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the mixture.
- Add chocolate chips to the batter.
- Continue to mix.
- Blend the cut-up candies into the mixture.
- Pour the batter into the pre-greased pan.
- Use a spatula to make sure the mixture is completely scrapped from the mixing bowl.
- Spread the mixture evenly throughout the entire pan.
Bake
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Immediately upon removing the baked brownies from the oven, press the remaining unwrapped 24 miniature candies into the top of the dessert.
- Evenly space the candies into 4 individual rows with 6 candies in each row.
- Cool completely for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
- When completely cool, cut the brownies with a sharp knife.
- Use a spatula to gently remove the brownies from the cooled pan.
- Be careful not to cut or remove the dessert before completely cool, or the brownies will crumble.
- Cut into 4 rows by 6 rows making sure a Reese's candy piece is on each of the 24 servings.
Allow the finished brownies to cool before eating. This will help to avoid burning your tongue and mouth.
If you wish you can dust the top of each of the mini pie bites with powdered sugar.
Carefully arrange the little squares in a decorative Christmas gift tin or box. Add ribbons and you have a wonderful homemade gift.
Experiment With An Array Of Toppings
If you wish, add optional ingredients to top off the brownies when serving. The toppings might include a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, or peanut butter ice cream. Or pipe some icing over the tops.
The sky is the limit. You could also drizzle the brownie squares with chocolate, caramel, or Nutella sauce. A dollop of whipped cream or whipped topping also adds a great finish.
I've always loved peanut butter combined with gooey chocolate. What could be better than a combination of melted chocolate peanut butter cups in a rich chocolate brownie?
Enjoy!
More Information
What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts. If you think more people should read this article, share it on social media. For more dessert treats, please follow me here on NewsBreak at: https://original.newsbreak.com/@karen-marie-shelton-1590602
© 2021 ®/TM General Mills, All Rights Reserved 2021. Trademarks referred to herein are the properties of their respective owners.
Comments / 1