Brownies Extraordinaire

I find the best recipes sitting in doctors' offices.  Here's the most recent treat I stumbled upon in a magazine.

Ballpark Peanut Butter Brownies
 

Get a load of these delectable treats.  As is often the case, the recipe in the magazine was more complicated than it had to be.  I put the Ballpark spin on it, and now I almost regret I ever saw this idea, because these brownies might just be the death of me.

The awesome, added ingredient is snack-size Reese's peanut butter cups.  About sixteen cups laid right in the brownie dough.  The chocolate melts, but, after cooling, the peanut butter retains its cup-shape.  They are thick and rich, and you really can eat only one.  At a time, anyway.

Here's the process:

Make a batch of Ballpark Brownies dough.  Click HERE for that recipe.  (You might be able to use a store-bought mix, but I can't guarantee they will turn out.  The brownies in the magazine were also made from scratch.)

Scoop half the dough into your well greased pan.  I use our Baker's Secret pan for brownies, but I believe a 9x11 pan will be fine.  A 9x13 pan would spread the dough thin, and there might not be enough to cover the peanut butter cups.

Baker's Secret pan getting ready for the oven

Once you have half the dough in your pan, gently arrange the unwrapped cups (don't forget to remove the paper liner) over the dough, placing as many as you can.  I halved one to fill the gaps.

Cover the cups with the remaining dough.

Pop 'em in the oven and bake according to the brownie recipe directions.

Let these cool before you cut them.  If you don't, the peanut butter will be soft and messy (though tasty.)  After the brownies cooled for about half an hour, I put the pan in the 'fridge until the pan was cool. I cut the brownies with a clean, sharp knife - it's the best way to see the intact peanut butter cups looking back at 'cha.  Not every brownie will have a perfect layer of peanut butter, but enough of them will.

Such a decadent dessert.  Probably best made when you have company, or a crowd, so they quickly disappear.  Then, you won't have leftovers in your house, calling you at midnight to come indulge.  Talk about seduction, my oh my.

March is just hours away!  Sounds like a reason to celebrate with brownies, don't you think?