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. :-)

eggless peanut butter cookies

yup, its that time again for some eggless desserts. however, this is one of the easier eggless desserts that i have had to make because it is with peanut butter and if you know anything about baking, peanut butter is its own binding agent. just think about all of those pb & j sandwhiches you had when you were growing up and that deliciously sticky taste in your mouth, yeah you know it.

for that same end of the year bbq, i decided that i was going to make quick ml friendly dessert because it was also his final day at work. i had never made eggless peanut butter cookies, but it seemed easy enough so i took to that recipe and got baking.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening ( I just used unsalted butter)
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk ( I just used regular milk)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets ( I just usually put foil on the cookie sheets).
   
2. Mix the shortening, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar and buttermilk until smooth and fully combined.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the peanut butter mixture and mix until well blended.
4. Drop cookies ( I roll them into little balls and dab them with flour) 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork that has been dipped in flour. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes.* I usually under-bake them by 2 minutes because when they cool, they are the perfect chewy consistency.
   
5. Share and Enjoy!
   

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/eggless-peanut-butter-cookies/Detail.aspx