Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownie Cookie Bites

This recipe is ridiculous. Probably the most ridiculously over the top dessert I've made in awhile. It is not for dieters. It is not for sugar-phobes. It is for special occasions or really bad days. I normally stick to from scratch recipes, but in this case I didn't, yes, that's right... I used a box mix for brownies and refrigerated cookie dough. AND I'm not sorry, cause these were delicious. And easy. And everyone loved me for making them. So without further ado... I present Peanut Butter Brownie Bites. Take a delicious candy (I used PB cups and caramel filled hearts) stuff them into a brownie and surround the whole thing with peanut butter cup cookie dough. 'Nough said.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

From Betty Crocker

1 box (1 lb 1 oz) brownie mix

Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box

36 unwrapped mini chocolate-covered peanut butter cup candies (from 8-oz bag)

*Note, I used fun size PB cups and some caramel filled chocolate hearts. If you use fun size candy, the cookies will turn out really big.

2 rolls (16.5 oz each) refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough, at room temperature (I used a peanut butter cup studded dough that came in a square not a roll. Worked fine though).

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir brownie mix, water, oil and egg until well blended. Spread in pan. Bake 33 to 36 minutes or until toothpick inserted 1 inch from edge of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely.

Cut into squares.

Flatten each square and place a PB cup or whatever candy you are using on top.

Work the edges up around the candy to completely cover it I smooshed and rolled between my palms. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. In large bowl, stir cookie dough and flour until blended. Divide dough into pieces.

Flatten each portion of dough and place 1 brownie ball in center; press dough around brownie, completely covering and reshaping to form a ball.

On cookie sheet, place balls 1 inch apart. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until set.

Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack...

Let cool completely (ya, not possible)

Fanfreakingtastic

This is one of the caramel filled ones.

Have a sweet day!

Linking to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, The Weekend Wrap Up Party, and the Sunday Showcase

Coconut Cream Eggs

Tired of Cadbury creme eggs yet? Ok, me neither, at least not the caramel kind. However, I would like to encourage you all to add a new sweet to your Easter candy repertoire AND one that you can make yourself! Coconut Cream Eggs, think Mounds Bar but way better. Better for a few reasons, no preservatives, weird add-ins, etc. the filling is way creamier than a mounds bar, and they are smaller than Mounds bars so you can eat more ☺. I have problems coating things in chocolate, they never seem to look as perfect as I want them to, so my eggs are not all perfectly egg shaped. They are more oblong and randomly sized, which is due to the fact that I was in a hurry and didn't take time to mold the cream cheese/coconut mixture the way I should have. So be sure you give yourself a bit of time if you are a perfectionist. If not, don't worry they'll still taste fabulous!

Coconut Cream Eggs

Taste of Home

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup flaked coconut

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon shortening

In a bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar and coconut. Refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours or until easy to handle.

Using hands dusted with confectioners' sugar, mold rounded tablespoonfuls of coconut mixture into egg shapes. Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 2 hours or until slightly firm.

Melt chocolate chips and shortening. Remove eggs from the freezer a few at a time; dip into chocolate mixture until completely coated. Return to waxed paper; refrigerate until hardened.

I drizzled mine with colored frosting. I used this recipe. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 3 dozen.

Happy Spring!

Linking up to Tatertots And Jello, Sweet Tooth Fridays, Just Something I Whipped UP, Meatless Monday, Motivate Me Monday and Under the table and Dreaming

Cookie Dough Chocolate Cookies

I have a problem, if something is on sale for a dollar, chances are, I will buy it. So, when cookie dough bites were on sale, guess who bought three boxes.... that would be me. I figured I would incorporate them into some baked good at some point. Then I forgot about them, until today! I was cleaning out my cupboard, happened upon the candies, and immediately though of a recipe I recently saw over at Annie's Eats, Giant Double Chocolate Cookies. Intense chocolate cookies enveloping little chunks of chocolate covered fudge brownie cookie dough, chocolate chip cookie dough, and peanut butter cookie dough! WOW. I used less sugar in the cookies, since I added so much candy, and that was a good plan, otherwise they would've been way to sweet! The cookies came out all dark and chocolaty with little melted pools of sweet cookie dough throughout.

Cookie Dough Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Yield: 12 very large cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup dark cocoa powder

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. coarse salt

1 tsp. baking powder

3 boxes cookie dough bites (flavor of your choice)

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.

Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

Fold in the cookie dough bites with a spatula. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined. Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions (or divide into 12 equal pieces).

Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc. Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart. Bake 16-20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Linking up at Under the Table and Dreaming, Tasty Tuesdays and Tater Tots and Jello

Leftover Candy Cookies

Valentines is over, but what to do with all the leftover candy? Why, bake it into some cookies of course! Even better, bake it into some oatmeal cookies, cause oatmeal's healthiness cancels out the candy's not quite so healthiness... or at least that's what I tell myself... I chopped up some Double Crisp Hearts and Cookies and Cream Hearts. The cookies baked up thin, with crispy edges and soft gooey centers. They are super easy to make, and the dough can be refrigerated or frozen for bake on demand cookies.

Chocolate Candy Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Serious Eat's

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• About 10-12 chocolate candies

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Chop candy into smaller chunks. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended.

Stir in candy.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes.

Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Not a bad use for leftovers!

Have a lovely weekend!

Inside-out Peanut Butter Cups

Reeses peanut butter cups are some of my favorite candys. Peanut butter is one of the greatest pleasures in life, in my humble opionion. So when I saw this post from cakespy on Serious Eats, I knew I had to try it! Inside out peanut butter cups?! I'm in!

The outer cookie cooked up nice and peanutbuttery, and the inner feeling was kind of reminiscent of peanut butter fudge or pudding. All together the combo was great. I think I would need to come up with a way to get a creamier outer peanut butter shell to truly be able to see these are inside out peanut butter cups. But these turned out more of like a cookie with a creamy chocolate filling. Which is pretty darn good too! Enjoy!

Inside Out Peanut Butter Cups

Thanks to Cakespy!

For the cups:

4 tablespoons butter (softened)

6 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

Filling

2 tablespoons milk (I used heavy whipping cream)

1 tablespoon butter (softened)

1 tablespoon peanut butter

2 1/2 teaspoons baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Line 24 mini muffin tins with liners. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Gradually add the flour in (I did a fourth cup at a time), mixing to incorporate. Mixture is very crumbly. Take about 2/3 of the mixture and press into 12 of the muffin cups, being sure to cover the bottom and sides. This took me longer than I thought it would but I persevered ☺

Take the remaining mixture and press it into the bottom of the rest of the muffin liners (you will later crumble this for topping). Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Mine were too puffy at first and didn't look "cup-like" enough so I let them cool for a minute or two and then pressed in the middle, molding them into more of a cup shape. Let cool.

While shells are cooling, mix up the filling ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds or until melted together.

Stir to incorporate all ingredients.

Spoon this mixture into your peanut butter cups.

Take remaining peanut butter dough (remember, the stuff you cooked to be the topping) and crumble it over the top of each cup, completely covering the filling. I recommend setting the cups in a muffin tin to catch runaway cookie crumbles.

You could also, as Cakespy suggests keep the little cookies whole and use them to top it off, but crumbling worked better for me!

Please excuse the poor lighting and focus on the yumminess...

Happy New Year!