When I first made these, I was pretty damn close to naming them Parent Trap Brownies. Can anyone guess why?

Well, if you’ve seen the movie 573 times like I have, you’ll know that the CLASSIC combo that is oreos dipped in peanut butter originated from that movie. These nutty cookies and cream brownies have the perfect balance of salty and sweet.

And the best part? This recipe is semi-homemade thanks to the help from Trader Joe’s. While I do love TJ’s for way too many things to count (including the famous everything bagel seasoning that I use in these pinwheels), my newest thing is appreciating all the products they offer to satisfy my sweet tooth.

The Trader Joe’s Truffle brownie baking mix is the base to these bad boys, with support from the honey graham crackers and, uh, butter toffee coated Virginia peanuts. Need I say more?

Oh yeah, obviously these “Parent Trap” brownies wouldn’t be complete without Oreos. But, in order to keep your shopping trips to a minimum when you make these, I’ve substituted the Joe-Joe’s Sandwich cookies for the Oreos. We’re workin’ with the same chocolate cookie and vanilla creme in the middle, and to be quite honest, they taste like the real thing.

The grahams come together with the chocolate cookie to make an awesome crust. Literally the perfect base for these. Not sure why I ever made brownies without a crust, but I don’t think there is any turning back after this. It adds a great contrast to the fudgy brownie batter that we pour on top. And while we’re on the topic of the incredible texture, let’s chat about these butter toffee peanuts.

They taste just as good as they look, and they’re added both IN the batter and ON TOP. Buttery. Salty. Crunchy. It just works.

Nutty Cookies and Cream Brownies

Author: MissFingerFoodie.com
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30-32 minutes
Total Time: 45-47 minutes
Yield: 16 - 2 inch brownies

Print Recipe

Description

AKA “Parent Trap Brownies”

Ingredients

1 box Trader Joe’s Truffle Brownie mix
2 eggs
8 Honey Graham crackers, about 1 cup when turned into crumbs
3 TBSP Dark brown sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1 and 1/2 stick Kerrygold butter, melted and separated
18 Joe-Joe’s Chocolate Vanilla creme cookies (or Oreos), separated
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cup butter toffee peanuts, separated
2 TBSP Peanut butter
(Optional, but highly recommended) – Maldon flaked sea salt, for topping

Instructions

PREPARE THE BROWNIE MIX

Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare the brownie mix according to the package, using 1 cup of the melted butter and the 2 eggs from the ingredient listing. Put 1 cup of the toffee peanuts into the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Fold into the brownie batter. Set aside.

PREPARE THE CRUST

Take 12 of the chocolate sandwich cookies and separate the cream from the cookie. Set the cream aside. Break the chocolate cookies (no cream) and grahams into the food processor and pulse until they are the consistency of sand. Add in the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, 1/2 cup of the melted butter and salt and pulse until evenly combined. Press the crust into the bottom of a parchment lined 8×8 pan.

COMBINE

Add the brownie batter on top of the crust. Top with 1/2 cup of the toffee peanuts and crumble the remaining 6 cookies on top. Using your palm, lightly press the two into the batter. Bake at 350 for 30-32 minutes. Cool in the fridge overnight (or at least 2 hours if that’s all the time you have).

ICE

Take the vanilla cream we set aside and combine with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Melt in the microwave in 30 second increments until completely melted. Drizzle the icing on top of the brownies.

Notes

Most grocery stores will have premade graham cracker crumbs ready to go! These will work just fine here.
Take a knife and run it under hot water before slicing the brownies. This will help you get clean cuts!

…I mean did you really expect me NOT to do this? #fingerfoodie.