Late night trips to the grocery store are never a good thing because it means coming home with things you don’t necessarily need or in this case a bag of Peanut Butter M&M’s. Alas it wasn’t too bad of a purchase because I ended up making these…
Peanut Butter M&M Brownies
The inspiration for this recipe was actually right on the bag itself. I deviated of course. 😉 I used butter instead of oil (only because I was low on oil). I didn’t have any baking chocolate so I used cocoa instead. I also made them with peanut butter buttercream. Probably because I had buckeye brownies on the brain or maybe because peanut butter buttercream is da bomb!
Needless to say they were delish! My oldest daughter (aka our resident brownie expert) LOVED them and tried to sneak seconds. Our youngest daughter isn’t always all about the sweets and ate her entire piece too. The brownie has a nice chew to it and the Peanut Butter M&M’s are mixed in to the batter too as well as sprinkled over the top. Then the peanut butter buttercream just finishes it off beautifully, especially if you’re a lover of chocolate and peanut butter. 😉
I won’t keep you any longer so you can hop on over to your kitchen and make these now. Don’t forget the milk!
xox Roxana
- ¼ c plus 2 Tbsp cocoa
- ½ c plus 2 Tbsp (1¼ sticks) butter, melted
- 1 c sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ c plus 2 Tbsp flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c Peanut Butter M&M's
- 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
- ½ c (heaping) peanut butter
- 2 - 2½ c powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 - 3 Tbsp heavy cream
- ½ c Peanut Butter M&M's (roughly chopped) for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 8x8" pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper so that it comes up the sides. You want to be able to grab the parchment paper once the brownies have cooled and lift it out of the pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside.
- In a small saucepan melt the butter then whisk in the cocoa and instant coffee.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and sugar. Allow it to cool some for about 5 minutes and transfer to a medium size bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time whisking well after each addition.
- Add the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon til the flour is almost completely incorporated.
- Finally fold in the M&M's, fold until all the flour is incorporated making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center has just a few crumbs on it.
- Set brownies on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
- Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the peanut butter together until it pales in color a bit. (Or you can use your hand mixer instead.)
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add powdered sugar ½ c at a time.
- Add the salt and the vanilla.
- Add the heavy cream and beat on high until light and fluffy.
- Generously spread an even layer of buttercream over the cooled brownies and garnish with some Peanut Butter M&M's.
These look completely drool worthy!! Pinning for later! ?
Thanks so much Sarah! My daughter did just that and she can’t wait until I make them again. Enjoy!