Left-Over Easter Candy Brownies

My kids received WAY too much Easter candy over the weekend. This recipe was a way to use up a little bit of the ton that we have. Of course it will only work with the chocolate variety. Not jelly beans, or Starbursts, or Sour Patch Bunnies......just chocolate. But you can probably use just about any candy bar in these brownies. Some possibilities are, peanut butter cups, Kit Kats, Milky Ways, Snickers, any Hershey bars...things like that. Mix em up! These turned out wonderful. I kept the chunks of candy sort of big so they wouldn't totally melt into the brownies. I'm sure these brownies would be fabulous with nuts as well. I don't really care for nuts in any of my baked goods so I always leave those out. If you decide to make these, I included a note below that says to take brownies out of oven before you think you should. I always have better luck when I remove them when they appear to be underdone. I'm certain that they continue to bake after removal. After they have totally cooled, they really firm up and what appears to have been underdone actually turns into a nice fudgy piece of goodness. And the marshmallow cream?? Well, that's good with just about anything chocolate, I think. You could also replace the marshmallow creme with Dulce de Leche (sp?) or caramel sauce.

Even though the marshmallow creme is added underneath the top chocolate coating, it kind of seeps through during baking.

This photo shows a bit of the caramel filled, I think Ghiradelli candy bar I added plus the chunks of the dark chocolate Dove candy bar I used.

Left-over Easter Candy Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 large eggs, divided
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups chocolate candy bars broken into rough pieces. (I used a variety such as mini Hershey Bars, Dove Dark Chocolate Bar, Caramel filled Chocolate Bar)
• 7 oz jar Marshmallow Creme
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (or additional candy bar pieces)
  

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Prepare 13x9 inch pan. I lined mine with foil and sprayed with Pam.

COMBINE flour, cocoa and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups batter. Spread remaining batter into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chunks of candy bars over the batter. Put a layer of marshmallow creme over the top. (There is no easy way to do this. I sprayed a rubber spatula with Pam and placed blobs of marshmallow creme randomly over the batter & candy bar chunks - I didn't try to actually spread it out). Beat remaining eggs and reserved batter till light in color. Stir in semi-sweet morsels (or candy bar chunks). Spread evenly over marshmallow cream.

BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: I have better luck if I take these out before I think they are done. They seem underdone when I remove them from the oven but set up after cooled. When they have totally pulled away from the side of the pan, that's too late - they will be a bit dry. Take them out sooner and you will have a nice fudgy brownie.