I can’t believe I haven’t made something this simple yet. Brownies + Reese’s cups. What more do you need?

When it comes to brownie recipes, I have a few favorites that I stick by. On occasion I’ll try a mix, but homemade usually comes out better.

Whether you’re making your own or using a mix, this batch will definitely come out better. Seriously, with peanut butter cups how could you go wrong? Once these cool, the milk chocolate sets again and the peanut butter has a roasted, nuttier flavor. It’ll definitely be a hit with your peanut butter lovers.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

• Your favorite brownie recipe
• 10 Reese’s peanut butter cups

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare your brownie recipe according to directions.
3. Grease an 8×8 baking pan well and pour the batter into the pan.
4. Unwrap the peanut butter cups and place them evenly around the pan on top of the batter pressing them in gently.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes according to directions.
6. Remove and let them cool completely before cutting.

On a trip to New York a couple weeks ago, I had an hour to kill in Times Square. It’s probably no surprise I made a beeline for the M&M store and then quickly followed over to the Hershey’s store. Anywhere that sells that much chocolate should be a tourist destination in itself.

I still had chocolate on the brain after getting home from that trip and had to make this fudge. Surprisingly I hadn’t made microwave fudge in about a year so this was long overdue. Adding a little bit of Reese’s peanut butter cups was the perfect touch to these; if anything deserves a pairing with chocolate it’s peanut butter.

I used dark chocolate chips which made the fudge a little less sweet but gave a good contrast to the peanut butter cups. Instead of the fun-sized Reese’s cups you could use full-sized ones cut into more pieces or the new unwrapped miniatures.

Easy Reese’s Fudge

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 servings):

• 1 10oz bag chocolate chips
• 1 4oz stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 10 fun-sized Reese’s, chopped into fourths

Method:

1. Melt together the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk and powdered sugar until the sugar dissolves.
3. Mix the milk in with the melted chocolate and butter and beat until smooth.
4. Pour the hot fudge into a greased 8-inch loaf pan. You can add wax paper as a liner to make the removal and clean up easier.
5. Sprinkle the chopped up Reese’s on top of the fudge and press it in gently with your hand.
6. Refrigerate the fudge until it hardens, about 2 hours.
7. With a sharp knife, slice the fudge into 1-inch squares. Keep it in the refrigerator when not enjoying.

The seasonal candies are always my favorite part of the holidays. I’ll usually wait until the day after each holiday to go to the store and buy it all half-off, but why wait when you can make your own? I’ve made my own peanut butter cups before and it’s never been a hassle. Pumpkins seemed like a bit more of a challenge but oh so worth it.

This recipe is also my entry in a Smart Balance recipe contest that starts today. They’ve asked 20 contestants to make a recipe using one or more of their products and put them on their Facebook page for fans to vote for. I love the Smart Balance peanut butter because of its rich, amber flavor. It has added plant-based omega-3s which are always good for a vegetarian diet.

Besides peanut butter, this recipe is super simple and uses only 4 other ingredients you probably already have: buttery spread(or butter), powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. The process doesn’t take much time at all even though there are quite a few steps. Just make sure to have room in your freezer to cool these quickly so you can move from one step to the next without waiting too long.

I found the pumpkin cookie cutter on Amazon and got it along with some other shapes; they also probably sell them in most craft stores around this time, too. You can use different cookie cutters for different holidays and keep the recipe year round. The basic steps will always be the same.

Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 pumpkins*):

• 1 cup Smart Balance creamy peanut butter
• 1 Smart Balance buttery stick(1/2 cup), melted
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
• Wax paper

*The yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters. I used a pretty standard 3-inch cookie cutter and got 16 pumpkins.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and melted buttery stick until it’s homogenous.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar stirring it in until it’s completely mixed in.
3. Get out 2 sheets of parchment paper and place the peanut butter dough between the two. Press down until the dough is about 3/8-inch thick.
4. Cut out as many pumpkins in the dough as you can. Put the dough into a freezer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stiff.
5. While the dough is in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler until it’s smooth.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer and remove the pumpkins from the extra trim.
7. On a separate piece of parchment paper, spoon tablespoons of melted chocolate about 3 inches from one another.
8. Take each pumpkin and place them on top of the melted chocolate, pressing down and moving them around to cover the bottom. Repeat with all the pumpkins.
9. If you desire, decorate the pumpkins by making faces or lines with a toothpick.
10. Place the pumpkins back in the freezer until the chocolate is hardened. Take off the parchment paper and keep these in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
11. Keep repeating this process with the extra dough and melted chocolate until it’s entirely used up.

The peanut butter parts holds its shape but stays pretty soft so you can bite straight through it into the thin chocolate. I handed these out to friends last week and even though it was still September it definitely stirred some Halloween excitement. These would definitely be a hit at any party this time of year. If you like the recipe, too, don’t forget to vote!

You know what’s a sign of a good cookie recipe?

When you consider not baking them at all and just eating the batter.

I couldn’t resist trying out this recipe when I saw it online. I mean—peanut butter, peanuts, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter candies? Where can you go wrong? The next time I was at the store I made sure to pick up all the mix-ins; I’m down for any excuse to keep peanut butter chips in the pantry. Always.

To make them gluten-free, I used my favorite and easiest peanut butter cookie batter; there’s no wheat(or even butter!) necessary for these rich, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. I’d recommend if you’re using a non-stir peanut butter to melt it slightly in the microwave before mixing it with the other ingredients.

Quadruple Peanut Cookies(adapted from this recipe)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 cookies)

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup Reese’s Pieces
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all of the ingredients together evenly into a thick batter.
3. Roll 1 ounce of dough into a ball in your hand and place it on a lined or greased baking tray. Press down on the dough in a criss-cross pattern with a fork gently
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the sides are browning.
5. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before taking them off the baking tray.

These cookies don’t disappoint at all. They’re definitely a must-make for any peanut butter lovers. If you don’t have peanut butter chips, I’m sure chocolate chips would be a great substitution as would chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups for the Reese’s Pieces.