Banana Nut Brownie Bites

Oh  my god these things are sinful.  In all honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t tried these before.  The recipe itself is really easy and the idea came to me when I was making the Banana Cream Brownies for Jesse to take into work today (the Banana Cream Brownie recipe won’t be posted for awhile as it’s one of  the recipes being offered as part of the May American Cancer Society fundraiser by the Pampered Chef).

Anyway, I got to thinking and realized that this should work out well. The first thing I will say, get yourself a mini-muffin pan.  I have the Pampered Chef version and love it.  The reason I say to get one of these is because it’s actually a really smart move if you’re a chocoholic like my family is.  Not only do the portions come out equal, but they are just the right size to give you a taste without gorging yourself on them.  Granted, if you eat a dozen of them at a time, then you’re going to gorge yourself; but with the mini-muffin pan, you can have a dozen and not fill like a pig too.  Plus the size is perfect for little toddler hands.

I would also look at getting a food chopper because this is what made this recipe even remotely possible and easy.  I’m not normally a fan of them, but the pampered chef one is fabulous.  Not only does it break down into three separate pieces to wash, but all of it can go into the dishwasher. This was my biggest hangup about owning one, but now that I have it, I’m using it more and loving the results.  I never would have thought about chopping up peanuts and throwing them into the brownie batter without this thing.  I’m so going to try chopping up pretzels and throwing those into the next batch of brownies I make.

But back to the actual recipe.  These more or less came out tasting like chocolate banana bread and they are fabulous.  I have never thought of adding any additional ingredients to the brownie batter before and now I’m so thinking about different combinations I can try.  This is a really easy recipe for anyone who can make your standard out-of-the-box brownies and it gives it a little more of a kick.

Update (4.19.09): My sister was asking me about cook times earlier and I should mention that the cook times below are for the mini-muffin pan.  If you plan on using any of the regular sizes, I would follow the directions on the brownie mix and adjust as needed. If you find a time that works really well, let me know please.  Thanks!

Ingredients:
1 pkg brownie mix + ingredients for cake-like brownies
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Chop the peanuts using a food chopper.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the bananas, oil, eggs and water (which is required for the brownie mix). Mix (or blend) until everything is smooth and then add the brownie mix. Mix (or blend) until everything is smooth again and then mix in the peanuts.
  3. Spoon out the batter into the mini-muffin pan until each slot is 3/4 full.
  4. Bake for 13 minutes.

Yield: about 6 dozen brownie bites

Variation: Substitute pretzels for the bananas.  I haven’t tried this yet, but I am so going to.

April 14, 2009 · jackie · No Comments
Posted in: Brownies

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