Ingredients:

5.3 oz bar (70%) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup bittersweet chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

for the topping:
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
handful bittersweet chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray with baking spray or grease and flour one 8×8 inch baking pan. Set aside

In a saucepan, melt the butter, cocoa, and chocolate together over low heat. Stir occasionally, and when the chocolate is nearly melted, remove from heat. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, salt,  and baking powder. Set aside

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly stream the chocolate mixture into the eggs and mix to combine. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is thick and glossy. Fold in chips. Pour into prepared pan.

Heat peanut butter over low heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Pour over brownies and smooth to cover. Sprinkle with chips.

Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with one or two crumbs. Cool completely in pan, on a wire rack. Cut into 9 or 12 squares. They are a little messy thanks to the peanut butter topping so if you are transporting them, don’t stack them.

Note: I did not try this using natural peanut butter. If you do, do at your own risk 🙂

My thoughts:

I wouldn’t say I have a love-hate relationship with peanut butter, it is more of a love-indifference relationship. I like peanut butter but sometimes months, even a year can go by without me thinking of it at all, much less eating it. I wouldn’t turn down a peanut butter oatmeal cookie but it wouldn’t occur to me to make them myself or to eat a peanut butter sandwich. Then suddenly, a switch goes off and I find myself wanting a peanut butter open-faced sandwich (I do not like peanut butter and jelly ever) on my favorite sliced brioche, eat peanut butter on apple slices and spreading peanut butter on marshmallows. Only the tops of the full-sized ones; I’m not a monster. For some reason, the latter half of 2017 has been a peanut butter season and I’ve been buying jars at a somewhat alarming rate. It was during such madness that I made these brownies so I could finish the jar and start a new one (much like Ramona Quimby, I think the first spoonful out of a new jar tastes the best). Luckily they turned out well. It has a dark chocolate flavor and lots of peanut butter thanks to the chips and the smear of peanut butter on top. It is as if Reese’s Cups were as tasty as they used to be and married a brownie. Yum.