Trashed Up Halloween Brownies

Tis the season of the sugar buzz!

Would it be totally wrong if my motivation to start a family was primarily so that I could have someone to walk around and collect candy with on Halloween?!  I guess it wouldn’t be as bad as walking around by my 30-year old self… but not by much!

My sweet tooth is on a whole new level than the average human, and even as an adult, I LOVE eating candy.  I’ve always had this crazy love of candy – primarily fruity, chewy candy or a good sour gummy treat, but I would never turn down anything chocolate either.  My favorites are Milk Duds, Snickers, Twix and Caramello bars (do they even make those anymore?!).

I wasn’t a big fan of Whoopers as a kid,  but I bought them for these brownies, and then realized that I was crazy and they are just as delicious as the rest of those sugar inducing coma treats!

So, you’re going to have all this leftover candy laying around whether it’s from your kids, passing out candy, or the many costume parties you’ll be attending.  And of course, you don’t want to eat it, but somehow-someway, those bags of candy just end up being torn open and devoured.

So instead of denying ourselves these delicious treats, let’s just thrown them on top of more chocolate and call it Trashed Up Halloween Brownies.

Basically it’s the all-time most amazing brownie recipe (I’ve used it here, here and here), that’s topped with a chocolate frosting and then all those delicious candy bars, chocolate coated candies, peanut butter cups, malted goodness balls – are all thrown on top.  Hell – even throw in some candy corn!

And then after you do it, be prepared for the most amazing sugar buzz.  Even I, the most professional of candy eaters, could only do a small square of this goodness before my heart starting beating double time.  But let me tell you… it was AHHHH-mazing!  Like all your most guiltiest food pleasures, rolled into one, and then finished with fireworks and unicorns.

trashed up halloween brownies

• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
• ½ cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda

• 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3-5 tablespoon milk or cream
• assorted chocolate candies

Instructions

brownies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter, flour and line a 13″ x 9″ baking dish with parchment and set aside.
2. In a glass bowl, set over a pan of boiling water, mix together dark chocolate, milk chocolate and butter. Stir mixture until completely melted and then remove from boil water.
3. Add salt and both sugars to mixture and beat well. Stir in vanilla.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Stir in flour, baking soda and cocoa powder until just combine.
6. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the middle and comes out with moist crumbs. If the toothpick comes out dry, you’ve over baked your brownies.
8. Allow to cool, then remove from pan and cut brownies into 12 squares.

chocolate frosting

1. While the brownies are baking, in the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter, cocoa powder and salt and cream together until smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar and slowly begin to whip together.
3. While the mixer is still going, slowly drizzle in the vanilla extra.
4. Next, drizzle in the milk or cream until you reach your desired consistency.
5. Once the brownies are completely cool, frost the tops with the chocolate frosting.
6. Sprinkle the tops with chocolate candies, cut up chocolate bars, and smashed malted milk balls (or any other candies that you prefer).
7. Brownies are best kept refrigerated.