Many months ago, I made peanut butter cup blondies.  They were incredible, but also left me wondering about other candy possibilities.  The options seem limitless.  Since Peanut Butter M&Ms rank in my top 5 favorite candies, if not top 3 (after Nutrageous and Peanut Butter Cups, of course), Peanut Butter M&M Blondies were a logical progression.

Let’s just say the experiment was a success.  I used a generous helping of M&Ms instead of peanut butter cups.  I also used peanut butter chips to boost the peanut buttery goodness.  The result was dangerous.  Lots of tasty M&Ms in every bite, lots of good peanut butter flavor…yet they still come in around 210 calories.  Gotta love it!

Peanut Butter M&M Blondies

 

Print

Yields: 16 bars

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ brown sugar, packed
• ½ granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
• ⅓ cup natural peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup peanut butter M&M candies, divided
• ¼ cup peanut butter chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, stir to combine butter, peanut butter, eggs and vanilla.
4. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture, stirring until combined (do not over mix).
5. Fold in ½ cup peanut butter M&Ms and peanut butter chips.
6. Pour mixture into baking pan and spread to fill pan. Top with remaining ½ cup peanut butter M&Ms, pressing them into the batter.
7. Bake for 19 minutes, or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

3.5.3251