Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies

Oh. My. Goodness. These brownies are epic! Earth shattering goodness! 🙂

My chocolate and peanut butter obsession has now gone to a whole new level after trying these brownies. Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies with three layers of rich and decadent goodness! A chewy, fudgy, double chocolate brownie with a crunchy peanut and Reese’s cup middle that is topped off with a peanut buttery, milk chocolately Rice Krispies mixture that will make you weak in the knees. Trust me, you might want to sit down when you take that first bite! 😉

I used my favorite brownie recipe as the base for these addicting bars, however, feel free to use your own favorite fudgy brownie recipe (just make sure that it’s baked in a 9×13-inch baking dish). Don’t say I didn’t warn you…these brownies are addicting. Make sure you have friends and family to share these babies with, otherwise, don’t blame me if you finish off the entire pan in one sitting! 😉

Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 brownies

No ratings yet

Review Recipe

Ingredients 

• 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts
• 8 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped
• 1½ cups milk chocolate chips
• 1½ cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1½ cups Rice Krispies cereal

Follow Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Want to save this recipe? Enter your email below and we'll send the recipe straight to your inbox!

Email(Required)

Email

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

NOTE: By saving this recipe, you agree to join our weekly recipes newsletter.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. Place another piece of parchment paper in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.
• In a large bowl, whisk cocoa, espresso powder, and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla extract and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined.
• Transfer the batter to prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with the peanuts and chopped peanut butter cups. Return to the oven and bake for 5 to 10 additional minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 2 hours.
• In a medium bowl, melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth, microwaving for additional 30 seconds bursts until melted and smooth. Stir in the cereal to evenly coat. Evenly pour the mixture over top of the brownies. Spread to cover evenly. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Using parchment overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Author: Laura

Source: adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, Originally adapted from How Sweet It Is, brownie recipe from Cook’s Illustrated’s Chewy Brownies, March 2010