Everyone has been raving about the new Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses, but I was on the fence about trying them. I love almost everything pumpkin flavored, but I wasn’t sure how I would feel about these kisses. My feelings changed quickly though, when I saw this brilliant recipe from Erin’s blog. Marbling the melted candies into brownie batter – sign me up! I ran to Target to buy some right away and as it turns out, I really do like the kisses, both on their own and even more so in brownie form. These brownies were really great! They had the perfect balance of the pumpkin spice flavor mixed in with the chocolate. I still can’t get on board with the Candy Corn Kisses though. I do love candy corn, but the idea of a candy flavored to taste like another candy is odd to me. I think I’ll stick with regular candy corn for the time being :-)
Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
45 Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses, wrappers removed
Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil. Grease the foil and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside.
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Stir occasionally until all the chocolate is melted. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring until it melts. It is important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you’ve got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them – it’s better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated – you’ll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds – the dry ingredients won’t be completely incorporated. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Place the Pumpkin Spice Kisses in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the candy is completely melted. Stir until smooth and then drop by spoonfuls onto the brownie batter. Using a knife, swirl the batter to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is dry and cracked and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature. Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2×2”.
Source: adapted from Dinner & Dessert
