“Whatever is in the Pantry” Brownies
If looked closely enough, the pantry could be a pretty awesome cookbook and can make lazy baking fun.
More stories from Alexandra Comer
I kind of love baking, and when I’m bored I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I was having an intense brownie craving, but I was bored of the regular chocolate brownies, so I did a search through my pantry and pulled together a new brownie recipe to test out, and let me say, they turned out pretty rad; I couldn’t keep my friends out of them.
Ingredients in the pantry that inspired this recipe:
- Betty Crocker Chocolate Brownie Mix (and its required ingredients: eggs, vegetable oil and water)
- Chocolate syrup (I had Hershey’s in my fridge)
- Peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, I personally love crunchy)
- Chocolate chip cookies (Chips Ahoy- it’s what was in my cookie jar)
Whipping it up
- Prepare the brownie mix as instructed on the box
- Add a tablespoon of peanut butter to the brownie mix. Peanut butter by itself has an intense flavor, but I personally found that a tablespoon was the perfect amount- it added flavor, but didn’t take away from the chocolate. Naturally, you can adjust the amount depending upon your love for peanut butter. Mix.
- Take the bottle of chocolate syrup and squeeze throughout the batter. I don’t have a specific “amount” I use, I just do it until it looks desirable. When you mix into the batter, it won’t bake as a solid, but instead create a “chocolate lava” center in the brownies that oozes out with each bite.
- In a small plastic bag, mash 4-6 chocolate chip cookies, and spread across the raw brownie batter; the cookies will bake into the batter. Pour into baking pan
- Crush 2-4 more cookies, and spread across the top of the batter in the pan
- Bake for suggested time on Betty Crocker box
*Tip* when checking to see if fully baked, insert a toothpick, fork, or knife, (whatever works), the utensil should come out clean, except expect to see chocolate syrup; like I mentioned earlier, it won’t bake into a solid form.
- Let brownies cool for 45 minutes before serving
*Optional* 8. Spread chocolate icing atop brownies and refrigerate for about an hour to allow frosting to settle
Tip to give the “bakery illusion”:
1. Add 1 extra egg than directed
2. Replace water with the same amount of milk
3. Replace oil with melted butter and double the amount
