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Ok, I know it’s December… but my kids still have some Halloween candy left! As I mentioned before, we donated a lot of our kid’s candy to Operation Shoebox-and it’s a good thing or else maybe it would have lasted until Easter. I think they just forget about their two little pieces of candy they get to eat each day. I was also left with a lot of candy that I had used when we had our little Halloween Party. For some reason, when I am at the store on any given day, the idea of buying a huge bag of candy to set in a bowl to just munch on is not something I would let my self do. But when it’s near Halloween and I’m throwing a party, I go a bit overboard. It’s like my one chance I feel okay about buying tons of candy-so I do. And as hoped, I had a lot leftover 😉 So I decided to start adding the leftover Halloween candy in to things I bake. I made these Reeses Pieces Brownies and they were so yummy!

Reeses Pieces Brownies 

Recipe Inspiration {Here}

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process I used Ghiradelli)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cold large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup Reeses Pieces

To make:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in half of the Reeses Pieces. Spread evenly in the lined pan. Drop the tablespoons of peanut butter on top of the batter. Use a knife to weave the peanut butter in to the brownies. Sprinkle the rest of the Reeces Pieces on top.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.