Having trouble getting through the bundles of Halloween goodies the kids brought home?
Whip extra candy bars into delicious, chewy cookies and spread spare York peppermint patties into brownies.
2cups all-purpose flour
1cup baking cocoa
1teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon salt
11/2cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3cups sugar
5eggs
1tablespoon vanilla
113-ounce package York peppermint patties (about two dozen 0.6-ounce mini patties)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a second large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread about two-thirds of the batter into the prepared baking dish. Arrange the unwrapped peppermint patties in a single layer over the batter. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the patties.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. The top will appear uneven.
Cool completely on a wire rack in the pan, then cut into bars.
Makes 16 brownies.
Adapted from Taste of Home magazine’s “The Taste of Home Baking Book”
1101/4-ounce bag (about 16 bars) mini candy bars (such as Snickers)
21/4cups all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon salt
1cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4cups sugar
3/4cups packed brown sugar
1teaspoon vanilla
1egg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and coat the paper with cooking spray.
Place the unwrapped bars in a food processor and pulse until they are well chopped. Set aside.
Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another large bowl, using an electric mixer to beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until well combined.
Add the flour mixture in two batches, mixing between additions. Mix in the chopped candy bars.
Use spoons or an ice cream scoop to drop rounded 1- or 2-tablespoon balls of dough on the prepared baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just lightly browned at the edges.
Let the cookies cool on the pans 4 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Depending on the type of candy bars used, the cookies can be very sticky while warm. You may need to clean the spatula between cookies.
Makes 24 to 36 cookies, depending on size.
Adapted from Taste of Home magazine’s “The Taste of Home Baking Book”
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