Triple Chocolate Valentine Brownies

I have my sweet mom and adorable five-year-old to thank for today's recipe.   These brownies came to be when my five-year-old had a complaint about the "smelly beans" grandpa was using in his famous ham and bean soup, which by the way, is delicious and there's nothing wrong with the beans.

 

 

  Well, of course grandma couldn't have a smelly smell in her house that was bothering one of her grandsons, so she told him they'd bake something good to smell up the house, and get rid of the "smelly beans".  She had a boxed brownie mix and asked if the should put chocolate chips or M&Ms in them.  His answer,"both!".  Grandma couldn't argue with him there.  The more chocolate the better!  So, they ended up mixing the chocolate chips (we liked the semi sweet best, but milk chocolate works too) into the brownie mix, and adding the Valentine M&Ms on top.  And let me tell you, in the course of 2 days, we went through three 8x8 pans of these!  They would make a batch, and have to turn around and make another because they were so good, they were gone before anyone had had enough.

 

They used a Lehi Roller Mill brownie mix, but if you're not a local here in Utah you may not be able to find them, so use any brownie mix you'd like- from scratch or a box.  I'd just say the cakier the mix the better.  That way the chocolate chips will mix in and stay well, and the M&Ms will stay on top well.  The trick to the M&Ms on top is to let the brownies cook for about half their baking time (we did 15 minutes) before putting them on top.  We had a batch or two of melted M&Ms on top.  They still tasted delicious, but not quite as pretty.

 

So, if you're a chocolate lover, and are in need of a simple, sure to be crowd-pleasing dessert, you need to make a batch (or two or three) of grandma and Logan's now famous triple chocolate valentine brownies!  And the great thing about M&Ms?  They come in colors for all holidays, so these could easily become triple chocolate Easter, Halloween, Christmas, or whatever-holiday-you-fancy brownies. 
 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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