With the Pimp My Eater Basket Challenge fully underway, I thought I’d bake up something delicious to participate.  Today I have Surprise Easter Brownies for you!

I’ve been brainstorming Pimp My Easter Basket ideas by walking through the Easter aisle every time I go to the grocery store.  While so far it’s has only been marginally successful, I did notice one thing: there are at least three different kinds of chocolate-covered egg-shaped candies there.  I don’t mean M&Ms shaped like eggs, but rather, for example, your Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.  A few minutes later I had three bags of chocolate-covered candies in my basket: coconut, peanut butter, and caramel.

Because I like hiding tasty things inside of other tasty things I decided to hide these delicious candies (they are delicious – I was sure to taste test) inside brownies.  That way, I thought, any piece you get would be a surprise!  Will this bite be peanut buttery, or perhaps have coconut?  What a thrill!

I decided to go for a brownie recipe using regular cocoa powder since that would go better with the chocolate eggs I’d found.  Luckily the lovely Cilanthropist had exactly the recipe I was looking for, browned butter and all.  Plus, I didn’t have to turn on my mixer.  Hooray.

Just like I did with the Marshmallow Layer Brownies, I started these off with a layer of brownie batter, randomly arranged the chocolate eggs, and then poured the rest of the brownie batter on top, spreading it evenly.  Since I ended up being worried for nothing regarding the amount of batter in the marshmallow brownies, I trusted that the regular amount would be perfect to completely cover the chocolate eggs.  And it was!

Why add Easter M&Ms?  Um, why not?

My goal was to be able to cut nine perfect squares, each with a different chocolate egg in them.  It didn’t work out perfectly, but even when you could see parts of the egg-filling in a brownie, it might also have coconut or caramel in it, so in that way, they still are surprises.

Final verdict?  Yes, these were absolutely delicious – thick and chewy, and definitely in need of napkins.  If you decide to make these for yourself, I highly recommend cutting them into sixteen pieces, not nine like I did; they’re pretty dense.  That’s actually how The Cilanthropist suggested it as well.

I shared these with four friends, a bottle of beer and a game of Mille Bornes, and good times were had by everyone!

Surprise Easter Brownies

Adapted from The Cilanthropist.

Mine yielded 9 brownies; I recommend cutting them into 16.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 stick unsalted butter (10 tbsps) cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 9 assorted chocolate-covered Easter egg-shaped candies
• M&Ms for garnish (if you so desire)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Cover a 9×9 pan in tin foil, leaving edges hanging over in order to easily lift the brownies out of the pan.
3. Brown the butter in a saucepan.
4. Stir in the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt, and 2 teaspoons water.
5. Let cool for 4-5 minutes, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
6. Once mixture is smooth, mix in flour and beat for a few minutes.
7. Pour half of the brownie mix into the pan and spread it to the edges.
8. Randomly arrange your Easter egg candies on the first layer of brownie.
9. Pour the rest of the brownie mix on top of the candies, and spread to the edges to hide the eggs.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or more (mine took 45) until the center is firm (toothpick-poking trick may not work if the eggs inside the brownie are gooey).
11. Cover in airtight container or with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night (suggested for easier cutting).
12. Cut into 16 pieces and enjoy!