Brownies a'la Reese's, Peanuts and Krispies!

I got this recipe idea from Taste of Home and tweaked it to suit my gluten free diet. The original recipe used a brownie from the box and Betty Crocker, Pamela's and others have those readily available. I still prefer my brownies from scratch.

Can I just say...oh my!!! This is one that is definitely best served COLD!

Brownie base:
2 cubes of butter (1 cup)
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/4 cup Pamela's Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
14 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut up
1/2 to 3/4 cup salted peanuts
Cream the butter, cocoa and sugar (I usually soften the butter just a bit in the microwave). Add eggs one at a time, beating slightly after each addition. Add flour. Mix until just moistened. If you over mix the GF flour it doesn't work as well. Pour into a 9x13 (or a little larger if you prefer a thinner brownie) and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. Open the oven door and sprinkle the cut up Reese's and peanuts on top of the brownies and continue baking for 5 or 6 more minutes. Cool completely.

Topping
While this is cooling, melt together:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 T butter

Add: 1-1/2 cups of crisp rice cereal (I used EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal, but you could use the new GF Rice Crispies too) to the chocolate/peanut butter cream. Pour over cooled brownies. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. I found they were better if it was even longer. Cut them up and give them away before you eat too many!!!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcakes (gluten free style)

1 pkg Pamela's Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix (21 oz)
2 T Cocoa
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1-1/3  C water
1/3 C oil
3 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pkg Reese's Miniatures

Place all ingredients, except for the Reese's, in a medium sized mixing bowl. Blend lightly until cake mix is just moistened. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake papers in pan and place one unwrapped Reese's in each cup. Place enough cake batter in each cup till it's approximately 2/3 or 3/4 full. Bake 16 minutes or so. Allow to cool. Frost with chocolate/peanut butter frosting. Use a cake decorator bag if you want it to look fancy. Note: I tried the larger peanut butter cups and they're good, but the chocolate was almost burnt and a little crispy. The miniatures did work better.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 C butter
1/2 C shortening
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 T milk (I used chocolate almond milk - YUM)
3/4 C cocoa powder
1 cup peanut butter (creamy is best)

Combine and moisten with additional milk to desired consistency. (I ended up adding an extra cup of powdered sugar and more chocolate almond milk.)

This recipe made approximately 24 cupcakes.