Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Have you been pinched yet? Or maybe you're the kind of person that does the pinching?? Well, I'm no pincher (unless you're a brother of mine and then you get whether you're wearing green or not and pinching isn't specific to today) and I'm also not a big fan of wearing green. Today or any other day. I do own a couple of green shirts, but they're summer wear and in the middle of March, well, it ain't happenin'. I find that I am lucky enough to avoid getting pinched (maybe it's the death look in my eyes as someone cheerfully approaches me when they discover "She's got no green!").

Well, whether you're the one who gets pinched or the one who does the pinching, maybe this well help calm yourself. Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. Yes. The happy marriage of chocolate and peanut butter. Fudgy brownie topped with creamy peanut butter, slathered in chocolate, sprinkled with chopped peanut butter cups.

This recipe uses a boxed brownie mix as a base (not my favorite idea) and I plan to adapt it to use the Chocolate Chocolate Brownies instead. I wanted to make the recipe the way it called to first so I could determine how thick the brownie layer truly was. Well, this was soooo good (brownie mix or not) I HAD to share it with you right away in case you NEEDED to make this. But make sure you have a large glass of milk on hand. Or two. Or a gallon.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

1 box brownie mix with everything to make it (I used Duncan Hines with the fudgy directions)
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 large bag miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (I think I used a bag that was about 20 oz), chopped

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease 9x13 baking dish. Make brownie batter according to box and pour into baking dish. In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, condensed milk, and peanut butter. Pour on top of brownie batter and spread evenly. Bake for 40 minutes (edges should be golden brown). Cool for 30 minutes and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

In a small microwave bowl, add the chocolate chips and cream. Microwave for approximately one minute. Mix until the chocolate chips are melted and cream is incorporated. Pour on top of peanut butter layer and spread evenly. Top with chopped peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chocolate layer is set. Cut and serve!

Source: Adapted from Pip & Ebby