Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting

peanut butter is delicious.

do i really need to say more than that?

i guess i'll give you a little bit more of a preface. good new buddy of BOOF, Scrimalls, was taking her big test and so I wanted to make sure that I made her something special and delicious to celebrate the culmination of the end of that test. I subtly asked her what her favorite flavor profiles were to get an idea of what i would make. she told me that she enjoyed mostly anything but especially peanut butter. Clearly, we were meant to be friends. So, I got to baking. I knew that I would make some standard Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies but I also wanted to make something a little more special than that. I got to searching and found this gem...

Not only was I really excited to just make these from a pure "peanut butter gives me joy" standpoint, but I also was excited because I think this was actually the first thing that I made from Joy the Baker. Needless to say, I love her.

Ingredients
For the Blondies:

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 cubes

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup smooth and natural peanut butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

For the Icing

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 – 2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted-- I actually omitted this because I was lazy and just added some more cocoa as needed.

Directions

For the Blondies

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2) Grease a 9×13-inch pan (you can also line it with parchment paper...if you choose to do so)

3) In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar together until the butter is just melted.

4) Remove from the burner and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the peanut butter. Stir until incorporated.

5)Allow to cool for 5 minutes more, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Make sure it is cool because you don't want scrambled eggs!

6) Whisk together salt, flour and baking powder.

7) Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients. Stir until just incorporated.

8) Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan and smooth out. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool (really, let it cool).

Directions for the Milk Chocolate Frosting

1) In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder and salt.

2) Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar followed by 1 tablespoon milk. Beat well.

3) Add another cup of powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of milk.

4) Add cocoa powder as necessary and beat to incorporate.

5) Add the final 1/2 cup of powdered sugar if you need a bit more thickness. Spread evenly over peanut butter blondies.

6) Oh my goodness, please go Share and ENJOY!!!

These were delicious. yeah, they were really good. If you don't like peanut butter, than you obviously will have some issues with this but really, these were delicious. go make some. I'm also going to try and attempt to find away to make these gluten-free...I feel like it wouldn't be that hard with all the peanut butter.




Posted: 12/29/10
Made: 10/06/10

peanut butter brownie cupcakes

ah yes. for close buddy of BOOF's, Sho's, final happy hour, the other treat I decided to make besides the White Chocolate Lemon Truffles, I also decided to make something peanut buttery and delicious. Or at least, I was going to attempt to.

I know that one of Sho's favorite desserts are brownies, so I definitely wanted to play up to that but do something a little different then just a classic brownie (even though they are very delicious). I am definitely believer that a little peanut butter goes a long way ;-) so I got to tastespotting and searching for a good peanut butter brownie recipe. there were many options to choose from but I wanted the peanut butter to be the highlight of the brownie, and not just a light swirl as an afterthought. Thus, I was prepared to make a more "blondie" brownie and also because I am a firm believer that making things in muffin/cupcake pans makes it so much easier to divide, I decide that I was definitely going to down the more cupcake "path" in making these.

Recipe adapted from: http://bunsinmyoven.com/2010/05/05/peanut-butter-brownies/

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 36 mini peanut butter cups (Reese’s are the best!)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1 ) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease Muffin/Cupcake Pan

2) In large mixing bowl, beat together sugar, peanut butter, regular butter, vanilla and eggs for 3-5 minutes until well blended.

3) Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and continue to mix for another few minutes

4) Stir in chocolate chips for a minute or so

5) Pour mix into cupcake pan

6) Cook for about 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

7) Remove from oven and immediately press peanut butter cups into the top of the brownie cupcakes.

8) Allow to cool and enjoy and Share!

Additional Notes: From what I gathered, everyone enjoyed these little treats. I feel like somewhere along the line, the eggs might not even be that necessary because peanut butter is such a binding agent. You can clearly not put these in a muffin/cupcake pan and just bake them similarly in a 9x13 pan. :-)

snickers brownie cupcakes

i have recently determined that everything in the cupcake form is just simpler. whether they are actually cupcakes is irrelevant but it is so much easier (especially when you have a group of buds) to make things in a cupcake pan. you dont have to worry about cutting slices, you dont have to worry about portion control and it is the perfect bite size amount for everyone.

with that being said, for one of our final group gatherings, i clearly wanted to bake something special for my buds. I decided that I would make brownies (in the cupcake form), and add a little special treat in them...fun size snickers. yes, i said it. fun size snickers. i am a firm believer that delicious candy bars can only make desserts that much more delicious. i feel like no one will disagree with me on this.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 fun size Snickers bars, chopped * I actually didn't chop them

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan or in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute
3. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir until combined.
4. Add cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder to the saucepan and stir until incorporated.
5. If you chopped the snickers, fold in Snickers bar chunks and bake or
   
6. Wait until they are finished baking (approximately 25-30 minutes) and press fun size snickers into the brownies, let them melt in and cool.
7. Enjoy and Share!

http://www.howto-simplify.com/2010/04/snickers-brownies.html

mint chocolate brownies

for good buddy of BOOF, ak's, final day of work, i asked him what his ideal dessert he would be. he said well "i love brownies and i love mint chocolate so i guess, mint chocolate brownies". i said, "alright, i'll see what i can do". so ak is essentially a pseudo big bro of BOOF, so i definitely wanted to make this happen but i had never really tried this before but i got to searching on http://www.tastespotting.com and i was met with some delicious options. this is the recipe that i found from another food blog via tastespotting : http://mysweetestdreams.blogspot.com/2008/03/happy-st-patricks-day.html

Ingredients

Brownies
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mint Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 to 3 tbsp milk * I definitely used at least 1/4- 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp peppermint extract * I probably used a 1 tsp of peppermint extract and it really was not too minty
Green food coloring
Chocolate Topping 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips* I used milk chocolate chips because i have a crazy sweet tooth and i know that ak does too. 3 tablespoons of butter

Directions 1 ) Preheat oven to 350 2) Microwave butter and bakers chocolate squares until melted (1 1/2 minute) and stir well. 3) Mix eggs, sugar and salt well in large mixing bowl. Add butter and chocolate mixture and mix well. Add flour and vanilla to bowl and mix well until no chunks remain. 4) Oil baking pan (8x8 or 9x9)5) Add brownie mix to baking pan and bake for 18-22 minutes. 6) Periodically check brownies by sticking with a toothpick until it comes out smooth. 7) When brownies are finished, cool.


Meanwhile...
8) 1/4 cup of softened (not melted) unsalted butter and 2 1/2 cups of confectionary sugar. 9) While mixing, add about 1 tablespoon every 20 seconds or so until it has a nice and icing consistency. 10) Add peppermint extract to the mix and taste occasionally to the peppermint taste is to your liking. 11) Add green food coloring until the color is as deep or pastel as you would like. 12) Cool brownies for another hour or so.


When the brownies plus mint layer are done cooling...
13) Melt butter and chocolate in microwave like above and frost the top layer of the brownies. Let it harden and the cut brownies and serve. 14) ENJOY and SHARE!



So. these were a big hit. however, be forewarned that they are VERY VERY rich (you can probably tell that by the directions), but they are super delicious. they are also a little addicting so prepare yourself by limiting your caloric intake in every other meal for the day so you don't feel like a complete fat kid while eating these. because you will. actually, it is inevitable. but at least you'll feel like a fat kid with something delicious in your belly. :-)

eggless brownies

:-)

Brownie Grade: A-

Oh and here are the recipes:

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup raw sugar (i used the regular granulated stuff and it was fineee)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1 dash cinnamon (optional-- I did this)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray or oil an 8 x 8 baking pan.

2. Mix applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (and cinnamon if using) together.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce mixture. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips (and walnuts if using).

4. Spread in prepared pan and bake 25-30 min, until center is firm and not sticky. Cool completely before slicing.

adapted from http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Scrum-Diddly-Umptious-Vegan-Brownies-150473)