These delicious chocolate chocolate peanut butter brownies are beyond simple to make because it all starts with a box of brownie mix (but shh...no one has to know). By adding certain key ingredients a boring mix becomes a gourmet homemade treat!

What You'll Need for the Brownies:

1 Box of Betty Crockers Fudge Brownies (any boxed mix will work, these just happen to be my favorite)

2 Eggs

2/3 cup of veggie oil

1/4 water

1/8 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp. of vanilla

1/2 tsp. of instant coffee (with water added)

Optional:

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli)

1 tsp. all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter

Instructions:

Follow directions on box and preheat the oven. Mix brownie mix, oil, water, eggs, coffee, salt, and vanilla by hand until just combined, (don't over mix, or use a hand beater-- it's not necessary and this could make brownies tough). Once the batter is combined, take chocolate chips and add 1 tsp. of all purpose flour to them (just a dusting), this will keep the choc. chips from sinking to the bottom of the brownies. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter then place batter into a greased pan, (I use an 8x8 to make them as thick as possible).

As great addition, add peanut butter to the brownie base. Take three tablespoons of smooth peanut butter and warm it up in the microwave for 8-10 seconds. Put dollops of peanut butter on top of the batter, then create swirls by drawing a sharp knife through the peanut butter. Baking time, again, depends on the brownie mix you use and how quickly your oven cooks things so make sure to check the box!

To Make Peanut Butter Icing:

I can't take credit for this one. This recipe comes from my absolute favorite food network chef, Ina Garten. I cut the recipe in half for the brownies but you can find the original recipe here. To take the sweetness down a notch I add an extra tablespoon of peanut butter.

The best part about these brownies is that you can make them however you want. I put chocolate chips in all of them, but only used peanut butter swirls on half and iced some with the peanut butter and some without. Make a variety and have your friends taste test each.

*TIPS* When buying a brownie mix, look for one that uses oil instead of butter. Oil keeps the brownies more moist than a recipe containing butter.

Also, if using a dark pan, lower temperature of oven by about 25 degrees to make sure the brownies don't burn, (if it says 350, set oven to 325). Because of the dark coating on the pan, the brownies will cook faster-- lowering the heat allows the same amount of cooking time and there's no worry about them burning.