Snickers Brownies

My mom loves Snickers. So when her birthday rolled around I thought I'd try and turn a Snickers bar into something else. Naturally I thought of brownies, since I've been on a major brownie kick lately. I have a recipe from Food Network Magazine for Snickers-style cupcakes so I incorporated some of their ideas into this recipe.

Trust me - you want to make these brownies. I recommend making them when you have company, or can share them. I am a major "eat the entire tray of goodies" person, but even I couldn't eat more than one of these in a sitting. They are very rich and you almost need a fork to eat them, but they are awesome. The caramel melted into the brownie more than I thought it would, and they may not be the prettiest things I've ever made, but they were still super delicious.

Enjoy! (I'm serious, go make them NOW!) :)

“Snickers” Brownies

Printer-Friendly Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Brownies:

¾ cup butter, melted

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

For the caramel swirl:

7 ounces caramels, unwrapped (about 30)

1/3 cup heavy cream

½ peanuts, coarsely chopped

For the nougat filling:

1 jar marshmallow cream

¼ cup peanut butter

For the chocolate topping:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

16 mini Snickers, unwrapped

1.       Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9 inch baking pan with foil (so that the tops of the foil overhang the pan) and spray with cooking spray.

2.       In a small heavy saucepan, melt the caramels and heavy cream over low heat. Cook until the candies have melted into the cream and the mixture is smooth, about 8-10 minutes.  Set aside.

3.       Combine butter, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs, beat well with spoon. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter into prepared pan.

4.       Pour the caramel mixture and peanuts on top of the brownies. Swirl with a knife.

5.       Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.  Remove from pan and remove foil.

6.       Meanwhile, make the chocolate topping: Put the chocolate chips in a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over low heat until hot (try not to let it boil or scald). Pour hot cream over chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute and then stir (carefully) until full incorporated. Chill until completely cooled. (*When I made them I had hopes the topping would harden, but it didn’t. It was good anyway!)

7.       Make the nougat filling: mix together the marshmallow cream and the peanut butter. Spread evenly on cooled brownies. Pour the chocolate topping over the nougat topped brownies. Top with 16 mini snickers bars. Cut into squares.

Makes 16 brownies.

Source: brownies from Hershey, caramel idea from Giada De Laurentiis; nougat filling from Food Network Magazine Jan/Feb 2010

Concept: Dorothy @ www.Crazy for Crust.com