A Different Kind of Brownie and Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Well, it doesn't really LOOK different.  Hmmm.  What could be so different about these brownies?  One hint, they are made with a cake mix.  So yes, they are just a little cakey, but still quite fudgy and good.  Another hint, there are only two ingredients, which would be one other besides the cake mix.  Stumped?  What could that other ingredient be?

I'll give you a hint, in my last post I told you I'd be using more of it up!

What?  Pumpkin puree?  If you guessed that, you are right.  One cup (8 oz.) pumpkin puree, mixed into one cake mix (I happened to use a Swiss chocolate mix, but any chocolate cake mix would work.  I'd rather have had Devil's Food.)  I was really worried that these would taste, well, too cakey and taste too much like cake, but every time I take a little taste, I'm pleasantly surprised that they don't.  Kind of just a fudgy, slightly cakey brownie.  I added about 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips.  You can add nuts, or whatever you want to add to your brownies.  I baked these in a 9x9 square baking pan that was lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  (I love this method, the goodies always lift right out of the pan for easier cutting.  Leave them in the pan until cooled. 

What do I love most about this?  Of course, that it is lower in fat that regular brownies!  No eggs, no oil, just the mix and pumpkin!  Gotta love that.  Next I want to try a brownie mix instead of a cake mix and see if they are a little more fudgy and not as cakey.  A friend had told me she heard you could make brownies with just a mix and pumpkin, so I searched the world wide web and found this here at Calorie Count.

These are the same brownies, but with half the pan, I spread some peanut butter on the top and swirled it in.  It was good.  The peanut butter I used was P.B. Loco Peanut Butter with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  I was excited when I saw this peanut butter.  I had to splurge and buy it even though it was about $6.

Well, I'm a little bummed, because it doesn't taste like cookie dough at all and it didn't really have chunks of dough in it as I thought it would, but I decided it would be fun to bake some things with.  Again, still not real thrilled with the results, although it was good on these brownies.  I would not use this for any sandwiches and wish the peanut butter flavor was stronger, with bits of dough, but instead it is more all together, especially when it is advised that you stir it after opening.

Anyway, all is not lost.  I decided to make peanut butter cookies using the P.B. Loco.  I don't recall which recipe I used.  I wasn't liking the cookies as they were turning out, and only baked a few before I decided to try something different.  I added about 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips to the dough and put it in a 9x9 baking pan.  I baked them as cookie bars.  They do taste good, but are a little dry.  Oh well.  So with a good half of the container remaining, I'll have to see if there is anything else I can come up with to do with it-someday.