Peanut butter brownies

These are so easy to make and pretty addictive! There weren't many photos taken and even if they were they are of not great quality. They were made and eaten in a hurry. A good thing.

We had our first socially distanced date to visit my friend who just had a birthday! I wish the last word could be 'baby' but alas, maybe soon. I asked him what he wanted as a treat and he said something with peanut butter and chocolate. Cupcakes are always a bit tricky to transport and I wanted something gooey and dense so something ugly delicious like brownies sounded perfect.

The recipe is a peanut butter filled brownie. I liked the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate and it wasn't too sweet (I halved the sugar) Between the 4 of us, we finished these babies in half a day. Don't worry, we burnt it off with our intense sweat-inducing HR-pumping super incline trek to see the Gruffalo.

https://www.handletheheat.com/peanut-butter-stuffed-brownies/ She goes into some detail about what pan best to use but I only had 1 dark coloured square pan so stuck with that. She said that these types of pans conduct heat too aggressively and will likely lead to burnt or dried edges. I reduced the baking time and they were fine! It's a pretty sinful recipe - advised not to use those 'natural' peanut butters as the oils will separate. But birthdays are meant to be sinful. We will allow it.

Peanut butter stuffed brownies by Tessa Arias

1 1/4cups (336 grams) creamy conventional peanut butter(NOT 'natural') this was a whole bottle of Skippy which I couldn't bring myself to use so I think I used maybe 3/4 cup of peanut butter

10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter I only had 130g left. Don't worry the supermarket shop is coming in 30mins

4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet baking chocolate, chopped I used 110g Menier dark chocolate

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar used 107g

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk I used 2 medium sized eggs (I never really follow these egg sizes...)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1/4 teaspoon fine salt a pinch

1. Place the peanut butter in a heat safe bowl and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or until pourable but not super hot.

I did 2 bouts of 30s and stirred

2. Line a metal 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang. Spread the peanut butter into an even layer in the pan. Freeze for 1 hour or until solidified. Use the parchment to remove from pan and return peanut butter sheet to freezer. Keep frozen while making the brownie batter.

I left it for about an hour and it was still a bit soft. Nonetheless they turned out fine. If you left it longer it probably would be easier to work with as mine got a bit sticky. I also used the same parchment paper to bake the brownies cos I'm lazy like that.

3. Preheat oven to 350°. Line the square pan again with parchment paper, leaving an overhang.

180C. I put the square pan in the oven as well because it was pretty cold from the freezer. Probably for too long as when I was putting the batter and peanut butter sheet in it made things too melty. I would pop it in for maybe a few mins just to heat the pan a little, or you could leave it as a cold pan which might prevent burnt edges.

4. In a large microwave-safe bowl combine the butter and chocolate. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the sugar to the hot butter mixture and whisk vigorously until combined. Allow to cool until just barely warm.

Mine wasn't really a hot mixture, just lukewarm. Don't wanna temper the eggs!

5. Add in eggs, yolk, and vanilla extract and whisk for about 1 minute, or until very well combined.

6. Use a rubber spatula to stir in flour, cocoa powder, and salt until just combined.

7. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan and smooth out. Carefully place the frozen peanut butter sheet over the batter. Pour remaining batter on top, covering completely.

8. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through but still very slightly gooey in the center. Let cool in pan 30 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool for another 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

I baked mine for 25 minutes! Could see some peanut butter bubbling up from the sides. Lovely. Brownies are best served at room temperature when they've had time to cool and dense up imo.

My go-to recipe for brownies is the one from BBC Good Food https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-ever-chocolate-brownies-recipe It's so easy and yummy and sinful. I think I use about 150g of sugar because there is so much chocolate involved. And just microwave the chocolate and butter, none of that bain-marie business. I also use a glass rectangular roaster thing to make it and it always turns out super gooey and fudgy. I've told people about this recipe before and they say they never get as gooey a brownie as mine which confused me because the recipe was so easy. Tessa explained that if you use a glass pan the brownies may become gummy or overly dense and they’ll likely take significantly longer to bake and you run the risk of the center never cooking through...but this is what people liked about it! You learn something new everyday. Slightly uncooked gooey fudgey brownies made with glass pans ftw.

Nic x