Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

And so the Great Brownie Challenge continues…

So so so good!

This week was a big step up in yumminess compared to my brownies from last week.  Don’t get me wrong, that was a strong recipe too, but how can you argue with chocolate and peanut butter together?  It’s the ultimate food pairing.

I utilized the parchment lining technique from the Everyday food recipe, and I’ve decided that its a best practice I’ll need to incorporate to all my bar cookie/brownie recipes.  If you compare the structure of this weeks brownies with last weeks, you’ll notice that the brownies were thinner this week.  That is due to the fact that a larger pan is utilized for the chocolate peanut butter brownies, resulting in a thinner layer of brownie batter.

Can we talk about the frosting for a second?

This should be criminalized and treated as a schedule one narcotic.  Proceed with caution.

So at the end of the day, these brownies were amazing.  But I feel like they were so rich and decadent that it almost was almost challenging to truly enjoy them.  They must must must be served with milk, and we were out at our house.  If you are a peanut butter/chocolate fan you really should try these, but I am hesitant to crown these as the ultimate.

Brownies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (I used walnuts)

Frosting and ganache

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I omitted this)
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation:?

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment, leaving long overhang; butter parchment.

Place 3/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan. Add both chocolates; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt, then eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in flour, then nuts. Spread in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; cool.

For frosting and ganache:
?Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup butter in medium bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, salt, and nutmeg, then milk and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies.

Stir chocolate and 1/4 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Drop ganache all over frosting; spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 1/2 hours. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Using parchment as aid, transfer brownie cake to work surface; cut into squares. Bring to room temperature; serve.

Tagged as: baking