Nilla Wafer Crumb Brownies are brownies made with four ingredients -- chocolate chips, peanut butter, condensed milk and crumbs. Different versions of the recipe call for different types of cookie crumbs. For instance, the Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook has a version made with chocolate graham cracker crumbs. I have a hard time finding the chocolate graham crumbs, so I make these with Nilla Wafer crumbs.
The cookie crumbs dissolve leaving you with a chewy brownie-like bar. These are quick and easy to throw together, but you do have to be patient enough to let them cool.
Here's how to make the Nilla Wafer Crumb Brownies. The recipe below makes an 8 inch square pan, but if you have half a can of condensed milk you need to use up, you can make a half batch in a loaf pan.
Chewy Fudge Peanut Butter Nilla Wafer Brownies
1 cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra chunky peanut butter
14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter and condensed milk. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in wafer crumbs. At this point, it will look pretty sketchy. Don't worry, because the cookies disintegrate into the batter.
Pour batter into the lined pan and with wet hands, pat it gently to the edges of the pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes. It will appear shiny and set. Let it cool in the pan for 2 or 3 hours. When completely cool, lift foil from pan and cut the Peanut Butter Brownies into bars.
Makes 12-16 squares.
Anna says
Hi Debbi,
I'm glad you tried them with the Nilla wafers and got the same results. As for moistness of the wafers vs. graham crackers, you are probably on to something. The Nilla wafers are probably higher in sugar and fat and dissolve better. Just a guess. I'm going to have to check Kraft and see if they have a recipe similar to this. I used these ingredients because they were all I had around the house. Now I think I'd actually buy Nilla wafers more knowing I could use them in something like banana pudding AND a batch of brownies.
Debbi says
These are really good. There is a completely different taste and texture when they are warm and when they are cool. I like them MUCH better cooled. I liked them last night but I LOVE them this morning. I used the Nilla Wafers and NO ONE would guess that there are Nilla Wafers in there, no trace at all. I think that Nilla Wafers are more moist than graham crackers, not sure if that makes a difference in the fudgy, chewy consistency. I love the simplicity of this recipe too. Very quick to make and my kids loved that they could eat the batter as there were no eggs!
Anna says
Lindsay, that's interesting. I was wondering how the recipe would be with graham crackers. You should definitely try it with vanilla wafers because I promise, there's no trace of them once baked.
Lindsay says
Yep-you're right...these were much better after cooling completely. Next time I will use chocolate grahams (or vanilla wafers like you) instead of regular graham crackers. I could taste the graham and it was a little weird. This is a keeper for its simplicity!
Poutine says
Hi Anna,
Can you do me a favor? Does that cookbook have a recipe in it for Pecan pie bars? My ex boss had a southern living cookbook and I'm trying to remember which one it was.
Anna says
Hola, Lindsay!
I think you will like them even better when they cool. I didn't think they were anything special when I took them out of the oven, but after they'd cooled, they were fudgy, but still firm -- like a really rich fudge brownie or one of those packaged "Plantation" brand brownies (but thicker).
Lindsay says
Just took these out of the oven (and did not let them cool the required amount before tasting!) I think the condensed milk does create a different type of brownie flavor...it's not my favorite but I will probably make this again b/c it's so darn easy! I used semi-sweet chips, creamy PB, graham cracker crumbs, and added a palmful of salted peanuts.
Jackie says
Anna,
It is hard to believe that those four ingredients can make such delicious looking brownies. I can't wait to make them and see if my family will like them as much as regular brownies.
Anna says
Debbi, semi-sweet should be fine. I think Bittersweet might clash with the peanut butter, but semi-sweet and dark would both be good.
Anna says
Debbi, semi-sweet should be fine. I think Bittersweet might clash with the peanut butter, but semi-sweet and dark would both be good.
Debbi says
I'd love to make these tomorrow as I have everything here. Any thoughts about me using semi sweet chips rather than dark chocolate??
Anna says
Gigi, I don't know if there's such thing as unsweetened condensed milk, but I used condensed. I'm going to add the word sweetened to avoid confusion.
Gigi says
This might be a silly question but is all condensed milk sweetened? I only ever bought sweetened condensed milk so I'm not completely sure. Is it safe to assume that's what you used in this recipe?
Anna says
Cindy, good luck using up ingredients. That's how this recipe came about, obviously. Hopefully next time you are trying to use up condensed milk and crumbs, you will give this one a try.