Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween Candy Brownies

Brownie Jack-o-Lantern


As a lover of all things healthy, Halloween is definitely my least favorite holiday.  Sure the dressing up is fun, but the amount of candy my kids consume during all their holiday parties and of course the bags of candy they collect drive me crazy.  I usually let them eat whatever they want that first night, within reason, and then portion out the rest to about one or two pieces a day. But sometimes that can last for weeks and I hate feeding them junk and having the candy around to tempt me. One solution?  Use the candy in a slightly healthy brownie recipe that provides a bit of fiber and protein so that you can feel a little better about eating all those sweets.

Some of my favorite combinations are Reese's peanut butter cups or Reese's pieces baked into a peanut butter brownie like the one below, although using mounds candy bars or almond joys with either coconut oil or almond butter in the place of some of the butter would be delicious.  Peppermint patties also make a good brownie mix in as well as good old M & Ms like I used here.  Granted, this is not a health food, but it is slightly better for you and more satisfying than just eating piece after piece of left over candy. For a special Halloween day treat, it can even be fun to frost the brownies with a light cream cheese frosting and decorate with melted chocolate jack-o-lantern shapes.  Happy trick or treating!!!  (Just remember to eat a salad first!!)

Halloween Candy Brownies
butter and peanut butter 
                                                                       
1/4 C. organic unsalted butter
1/3 C. peanut butter      
1/4 C. organic white sugar                                 
1/2 C. organic coconut nectar
1/2 C. chocolate chia seed pudding (or 2 eggs)      
1 organic egg, optional                                               
1 tsp. vanilla extract                              
1/2 C. dark cocoa powder          
1/3 C. organic whole wheat pastry flour                           
1/4 tsp. salt                                          
ingredients ready to mix
1 C. chopped candy                         

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round cake pan. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and the peanut butter together. Remove from the heat, and stir in the sugar, coconut nectar, chia pudding and/or eggs and the vanilla. Beat in the cocoa powder, the flour and the salt. Add in the chopped candy pieces and spread into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.


ready to bake
ready to eat!

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