I have a list of links bookmarked on my computer that’s a mile long. Yes literally, a whole mile. That’s super long. The biggest category is labeled “recipes to try” and there are some that have been there for years. This one is one I always see when I’m scrolling through the list because it’s been there for like, 5 years. I thought I should finally make it just so I could delete it and let something else win the title of longest time on the list. Because I’m all about equal opportunity. These ooey gooey brownies have the look of a gourmet concoction, but they start off with a shortcut and are thrown together in no time. You’ll use a devil’s food cake mix (we like Duncan Hines) and turn it into a brownie. The middle layer boasts fluffy, melty marshmallow cream and dots of peanut butter morsels. Sounds like a winning combination, right?? It totally is.
Start by mixing part of the sweetened condensed milk with the cake mix, butter, milk, and egg white. It doesn’t look like a cake batter, it’s super thick like this:
You’ll need to pat part of this mixture into a 9×13 inch pan. You can either flour your hands, or spray them with cooking spray to avoid big goopy chocolate hands. That layer gets popped in the oven for about 10 minutes.
While it gets baked up, grab the marshmallow cream and scoop it all out into a bowl.
Add the rest of the sweetened condensed milk and stir it up till it’s nice and smooth
Lovely, isn’t it?
Then, we add peanut butter chips. Mmmm…peanut butter chips.
What a beautiful invention.
You can certainly measure them out. Or you can dump them in and accidentally dump way more than the recipe calls for. I won’t tell.
Stir them in
Then pour the marshmallow mixture over your pre-cooked brownie mixture. The marshmallow mixture is nice and sticky so just be patient and spoon it on a little at a time and very gently spread it around.
Then take the rest of that brownie dough and use your fingers to sort of smoosh it out into flat pieces and lay them on top.
Ready for the oven! Bake for another 30 minutes and wa-lah…
(And if you’re about to send me a rude grammar-correcting email or comment, I will just tell you now that I already know that’s not the correct spelling of wa-lah and I’m using it anyway. Because it’s my blog and I feel like it. And I don’t like writing in French because people won’t pronounce it wa-lah in their heads they will say viola.
And that just sounds lame. Seriously. Stop the emails. I’m sure you have better things you could do with your time. Like make brownies!)
It will kill you to not cut into these right away, but trust me, they are much better after they’ve cooled down. You can leave them slightly warm, or cool them completely to really taste all of the flavors. They’re awesome in big squares with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top too.
Or just stuffed in your face. Your call.
A few of you readers in the comments were surprised to note the source of such a naughty looking recipe: Cooking Light Magazine! I noted that the great thing about Cooking Light is that they skim calories where they can, but without sacrificing the recipe. So while these brownies are totally drool-worthy, they use non-fat milk and non-fat sweetened condensed milk, only 1 egg white in the whole recipe and only 4 tablespoons butter. All things considered, that’s a pretty great line-up for a treat as decadent as this! So go ahead; eat one more 😉
Ooey-Gooey Peanut-Butter Brownies
Ingredients
- 3/4 C sweetened condensed milk divided (fat-free is fine)
- 1/4 C butter melted and cooled (1/2 stick)
- 1/4 C non-fat milk
- 1 box devil's food cake mix 18.25 oz
- 1 large egg white lightly beaten
- cooking spray
- 1 7 oz jar marshmallow creme about 1 3/4 C
- 1/2 C peanut butter morsels not gonna lie, I used a very "heaping" 1/2 cup :
Instructions
- With an electric mixer, combine 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, milk, butter, cake mix, and egg white. Mixture will be very thick. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Use either floured hands, or spray your hands with cooking spray in order to press it down without having it stick to your fingers. The layer will be thin. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Combine 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl and combine until smooth. Stir in PB morsels. No one will tell if you stir in some extras.
- Spread marshmallow layer over brownie layer in pan. Carefully drop remaining brownie batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. (The original recipe calls for 30 minutes, but many readers have noted that 20 minutes was perfect, and I usually only bake for about 20-25). Remove from oven and cool before cutting into squares.
Questions & Reviews
These are SO GOOD!!!! And even better if you leave it in the fridge for a few hours. YUM!!!!!!!
Made these today for my mom and I had to try one first of course…. THEY ARE INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! I could eat a whole pan… okay, not really, but they are THAT good that you would WANT to eat the whole pan!! Thanks for sharing!! Can’t wait to share this with others!!
Am I the only one who had a really hard time spreading the “batter” into the pan? Even with greased fingers I couldn’t get it to cover the bottom! I had to give myself a 10 minute time out while the first layer was cooking. It did spread out while cooking so I have renewed hope that they will turn out after all and make all the effort worth it. 🙂
Super yummy and super easy!
I made these the other night! Just as I was mixing them up some friends came over to hang out. Needless to say what a hit they were!!!! Everyone couldn’t get enough. I’m not sure how to explain the taste, it wasn’t over powered by peanut butter but more of a slight hint of PB flavor with the creamy goodness of the marshmellow creme. YUMMY!!! Thanks for sharing : )
Made these last week–so YUMMY! I was a little worried when they came out of the oven because they didn’t look much like the picture, but they were still delicious. I didn’t get the top brownie layer spread out enough, so there was more of the marshmallow exposed when they went into the oven. The marshmallow creme and peanut butter chips “melted” into the brownies and just made them extra gooey and delicious on the inside with a crispy/sugary crust on top. Gave half of the pan to a neighbor who declared them “the best brownies EVER.”
Made these tonight for Father’s Day. Used butterscotch chips (cause they fell out of the baking cabinet first)! My daughter took one look at the finished pan and declared them “Daddy’s Day Giraffe Brownies.” Very cute – thanks for all the posts.
I am making these right now for a birthday party tonight!! I am seriously so excited! The marshmallow filling itself was amazing. I wanted to put it as a topping on ice cream!
These look incredible! I’m making them for a bunch of teenage boys tomorrow, so I’ll just cut out one little one for me and with any luck the rest will all be gone and not tempting me!
These look great! Too Great! I am preg. and now I am craving a yummy chocolatey peanut buttery treat that I can’t have because I don’t have the ingredients for it. UUUGGGHHH. Too bad the kids are sleeping otherwise we would be makin a run for the store. :o)