Chocolate and Peanut Butter – Oh My!

I absolutely love chocolate. Hubby – not so much. The only way I can get him to eat chocolate is when I contaminate it with other things. But I don’t mind mixing in some peanut butter – what a great combination!

I had been hearing great things about this recipe so I had to give it a try. I even got hubby to help with adding the peanut butter!


We both loved the cupcake in it’s finished state. It was the first time I had ever made a from-scratch chocolate cake. The cake itself wasn’t very chocolatey, but the finished product was amazing. I will definitely be making these again sometime!


Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate (cup)Cake (2 WW pts – 5 pts with frosting and PB filling) From the back of the Cocoa box or here (Makes ~2 dozen)
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour – I use King Arthurs White Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk – I used Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil – I used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely.

Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Frosting (2 WW pts)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar – I used 2 1/2 cups
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Peanut Butter Filling (1 WW pt)
Mix 1 cup of peanut butter (I used low-fat JIF creamy) with about 2 Tbsp powdered sugar.

To assemble, we used the cone method as described here. It worked well with a helper 🙂 I cut the cones out, and hubby spooned in the PB mixture. Then I replaced the cones and frosted the top of the cupcake.

Note: The batter is VERY THIN… as in liquid.

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10 Responses to “Ina Gartens Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies”

  1. #
    1
    Linds — November 25, 2008 at 1:59 am

    Oh my goodness, those look AMAZING!

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    2
    Ingrid — November 25, 2008 at 3:07 am

    Wow, that’s a lot of brownies. They do look heavenly! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
    Happy Thanksgiving!
    ~ingrid

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    3
    ~Amber~ — November 25, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    Wow, these look amazing!

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    4
    Jen — November 25, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    These are amazing! And they’re very chocolatey. Definitely need a glass of milk with them 🙂

  5. #
    5
    Katie — December 1, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    Whoa! Those look insanely decadent and delicious!

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    6
    Glenice — February 27, 2010 at 4:50 am

    Hi Jan. These Orio Crunch Brownies look delicious and I would like to try an make them. Being in Australia the recipe needs some clarification for me. How much butter is in a stick? We get butter in 1kg and 500 gm packs… Thanks so much. Just found your blog today and oh! oh!, everything looks so nice. I would like to leave my email address for you: jong2505@hotmail.com

    Thanks ever so much…
    Glenice

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    7
    Sarah — April 13, 2010 at 1:20 am

    These look so great! Can I eliminate the instant coffee or is it essential to the taste? I am making these for my 3-year-old niece’s birthday party, and she LOVES chocolate, but I don’t think she should have something with coffee in it. What are your thoughts?

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    Jen — April 13, 2010 at 11:59 am

    Sarah – The coffe in the brownies is there to enhance the flavor of the chocolate. It is not necessary, you could definitely take it out without any issues. I hope you enjoy the brownies!

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    Sarah — April 19, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    Sorry to be a pest with questions, but what kind of pan is the size you mentioned? I did a search online and I got two results – a jelly roll pan and also a much deeper roasting pan. The brownies in your photos look thick but I’m not sure if I need to pick up a new pan. Thanks for all of your help!!! 🙂

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    Jen — April 21, 2010 at 11:04 am

    Sarah – Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The pan I used is 11x17x1. So it’s not very deep. I always call it a jelly roll pan. Hope that helps!

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