Peanut Butter Brownies

Things I can do as an “adult” that I couldn’t do as a “kid”:

Dye my hair blue. Or pink. Or rainbow.

Eat cookies for dinner.

Live with a boy.

Watch R rated movies.

Have my own real live puppy. Or two.

Order a medium rare steak and savour every single moment of it.

Waste away a Sunday without the homework/study guilt.

Walk in 5-inch heels with some semblance of grace. Sort of.

Own 6 different kinds of flour, 5 types of sugar, countless types of chocolate and know exactly why I own each. The chocolate is mostly for my mouth. Sometimes it makes it into a baked good with the flour and sugar.

Eat marshmallow based cereals as often as I want.

Eat cereal for dinner.

Have a Costco membership to buy said cereals. In bulk.

Keep peanut butter in the house.

Mmm… yes… peanut butter. I love my brother dearly and would never want to cause him an allergic reaction, but I do not miss the peanut butter ban of my childhood home.

Maybe this whole adult thing ain’t so bad.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

I feel the name of this recipe is a little misleading. It makes you feel as though this is one of those brownies with ribbons of peanut butter through it. Rather, it is similar in structure and texture to a brownie, but is peanut butter flavoured instead of chocolate flavoured. But no worries, there’s still some chocolate!

Brownies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)

Ganache

• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13×9-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.
2. Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and salt. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.
3. Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)
4. Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.
5. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.
6. Ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heat-proof bowl.
7. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.
8. Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.
9. Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Makes approximately 36 brownies. Keep in airtight container for up to 3 days.

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