Giant Buckeye Brownie

Delicious dessert. I was able to make it with ingredients I had lying around and it travels well! I took it to the coast a few months ago for a little celebration and was able to cut it like a pie (use a plastic knife, it's easier) and pull each slice out and transfer it to a tupperware for easier traveling. Held up wonderfully, tasted great, and super easy to make.

• 
  1 pkg chocolate cake mix
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• optional: hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, melted creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine chocolate cake mix, eggs, and oil until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Press half the dough into a greased 10 inch cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet. 

Combine peanut butter and confectioners' sugar; spread over dough in skillet. Press the remaining chocolate dough between sheets of parchment into a 10-inch circle; place over filling. 

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, 20-25 minutes. Serve warm, with optional ingredients as desired. 

NOTES: I'm lazy. And hate getting other things dirty if I don't have to. So, first off: we don't have a cast iron skillet. We have stainless steel ones. A more astute baker than I could tell you the benefits of using cast iron vs using a stainless steel one, I'm sure, but whatever. It worked.  

Also, I wasn't about to measure out a 10 inch circle to smash between parchment paper and then move it to the skillet. I'm not selling this brownie in the store. It doesn't have to be pretty! So took about half, put it in the middle of the skillet and spread it around as best I could with my fingers. I then took the peanut butter mixture and did the same, with a little more difficulty. I would advise plopping the peanut butter down in strategic spots around the skillet and spreading them all to merge together. Then I took the rest of the chocolate mix and did the same. I was a bit afraid that as I was gently spreading it, I was making the center too thin (under layers included), but it ended up being ok. 

Serves 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Recipe from Taste of Home