My favorite part of award season is trying to guess the winners. Each year, I set up pick ’ems for my friends and offer up baked goodies to the winners. These delicious little things are going in the mail today for Laura, our Grammy winner.

I just had to sample these before mailing them off and, my goodness, they’re delectable – a really dense, fudge-y brownie with a creamy, peanut butter element. I must find a reason to make these again soon!

 Buckeye Brownies
(from Cookies & Cups)
Makes 1 9″x13″ pan

1 box (18-19 oz) Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. coarsely chopped peanuts
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease a 9″x13″ pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the brownie mix, eggs and oil until smooth. Stir in the chopped peanuts. Press half of the brownie mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan – set the remainder aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Spread over the brownie mixture in the pan. Drop remaining brownie batter over the peanut butter mixture by spoonful and press down into the peanut butter mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes until the peanut butter mixture is just set. Let cool completely before cutting.