Mini Reese's Cup Brownie Bites

As soon as I saw the recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bites on Savory Sweet Life, I planned on making them. However, sacrificing more precious (storage-scarce) kitchen space on a mini cupcake pan was not ideal. Fortunately, my resourceful friend A happened to have the necessary bakeware. She agreed to lend her equipment for a portion of the finished goods (bonus: I also convinced her to help me with the production process). The recipe was easy to follow and a breeze to make. The bites were an instant hit at the office and a great birthday surprise for my friend P. By the way, he's got a killer new album up. Go check it out!

I have to say that these little treats are the perfect size. A chocolate-covered peanut butter cup that's embedded in a second layer of chocolate was meant to be enjoyed in moderation.  Any larger and they would be way too intense, at least for my liking. To improve transportability, I purchased a stack of mini cupcake liners to hold each of the brownies. 

When they're still warm, you can also decorate the soft chocolate top. I tried a combination of little pearl balls and white icing gel to write out a birthday message. I would recommend using the balls or another kind of solid sprinkle confetti over the gel. They're quite easy to handle with a pair of tweezers. Plus, unlike the gel, they won't smudge during transport.


Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bites Recipe
From Sweet Savory Life
Prep time: 10 min / Cooking time: 15 min / Ready in: 30 min
Yields: 36-40 brownie bites

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (I used light brown sugar)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

40 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped from the brown paper


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Either put down mini cupcake liners or spray the mini cupcake pan with non stick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually add flour, cocoa, and salt and mix until combined.

3. Fill each cupcake slot slightly more than halfway but not more than 2/3 full. Place a peanut butter cup in each slot pressing it down until it is almost level with the batter.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until done. Allow the brownie bites to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the cupcake tin.

*Notes: If you're not using liners, be sure to remove brownie bites 5 minutes after coming out of the oven. Otherwise they might cool and stick to the sides making it difficult to get out.

If baking these in a pan, your baking time will increase to 25-30 minutes. You can be sure they are close to being done when you can smell them from your oven.

More pics can be found here.