Peanut M&M Brownies Recipe – Sweet & Salty Desserts

I’ve been all about the pantry staple recipes lately, and have been whipping up tons of new baked treats!  These amazingly delish Peanut and M&M Brownies are simple to make with ingredients you have on hand.  They are made with simple ingredients and packed with sweet & salty flavors!

I made these with peanuts AND regular plain M&Ms because they are so so yummy – which gave these brownies a double chocolate crunch. I love the pops of color from the candies when you eat these brownies, so fun!

I’ve been (finally!) learning to bake after 30 years and have made some fun baked goods during our COVID quarantine: Crinkle Chocolate Chip Cookies, 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies, and Soft & Chewy Pull-Apart Rice Krispie Treats. I’ve been trying to bake one new treat a week, and these Peanut M&Ms are going into our dessert rotation!

• Butter, can be plant based – if you don’t have fresh butter on hand, this butter powder is actually amazing!  I’ve baked cookies with it, and I really like having some butter in the pantry in a pinch.
• Granulated Sugar: I like this organic sugar for my recipes, it has a really nice texture in this bread, I’d recommend Anthony’s organic sugar for baking.
• Eggs: or substitute flax egg or baking egg alternative
• Vanilla Extract: it’s super important to use real pure vanilla extract, and not artificial baking vanilla flavor. This real all natural vanilla is a fantastic ingredient to give these cookies an #extra boost.
• Raw Cacao Powder: this raw unsweetened cacao powder is a a healthy and good-for-you addition to these brownies.  Raw Cacao powder is loaded with antioxidants and has tons of healthy benefits.   Make sure you use a raw cacao powder and not sweetened baking cocoa… it makes a huge difference.
• All Purpose Flour: I normally use King Arthur organic all purpose flour for all my recipes, I love the consistency and texture of the crumb this flour produces. If you are gluten free, then a gluten free flour would be a nice substitute in this dish.  If you want to keep it a little wholesome, you can use half whole wheat flour as well.
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• M&Ms: you can use regular for these brownies, because not going to lie we got a giant GIANT container of these and they are SO good.
• Lightly Salted Peanuts: for a yummy, nutty crunch!  I like to use only unsalted or lightly salted peanuts when I cook. Lightly salted peanuts won’t alter the taste of my recipes, which I prefer.  I will always choose a lower sodium option if available!

How Do I Make Peanut and M&M Brownies?

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease a 8×8 glass baking dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and whisk well to combine.
3. Add the cacao powder, flour, salt, baking powder, and half of the M&Ms and half of the peanuts into the batter.  Mix well and stir until the batter is smooth.  Add the batter to the baking dish and top with the remaining M&Ms and peanuts.
4. Bake for 30 to 38 minutes (depending on how crisp you like your brownies)

To make gluten free, substitute a 1:1 gluten free baking mix instead of the flour.

For a  vegan version, replace the butter with a plant based variety (or vegetable oil), use flax eggs, and use a dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate candies.

To make peanut-free, you can omit the nuts all together.

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Rich & Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies (Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free)

Crinkle Chocolate Chip Cookies (Pantry Staple, Vegan & GF Options)

Get the Same Ingredients I Use For My Peanut M&M Brownies Recipe:

As always, if you make Peanut M&M Brownies please be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe, and tag me @theherbeevore on Instagram so I can feature you.  I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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