Chocolate Bar Brownies

My second Halloween-themed treat this year are these chocolate bar brownies.. because sometimes a plain old chocolate bar just isn't enough chocolate on its own! This recipe will come in handy for all that chocolate you will have lying around after trick-or-treating tomorrow night!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 and 2/3 cups white sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

 1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Assorted chocolate bars, roughly chopped

Semisweet or milk chocolate chips, for drizzling

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line a 13×9" baking pan with parchment paper or foil, allowing it to come up and over two sides. If using foil, spray the foil with cooking spray.

I used a combination of Mars, Snickers, Twix, Wunderbar, and a random Purdy's Peanut Butter Finger

Unwrap the chocolate bars you are using and roughly chop them up into chunks; set aside. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Whisk in the sugar, then whisk in the cocoa powder, followed by the vanilla extract and eggs. Scrape down the sides of bowl and stir (do not beat) in the flour. 

When mixture is smooth, add in the salt and baking powder and whisk thoroughly, breaking up any lumps in baking powder and taking care that it is thoroughly distributed.  Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly to edges.

 Cover the top of the brownies with the chunks of chocolate bars, gently pressing them into the batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out with moist crumbs and the edges just start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, melt some chocolate in a plastic bag, snip of the corner of the bag and then drizzle it over the tops of the brownies. 

Once they have cooled down for a bit, cover and place the brownies in the fridge for 1-2 hours to allow the drizzles chocolate to harden. Chilling in the fridge will also make them easier to cut. Store in an airtight container.

*Recipe by Brooke McMillan