Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

This is not a low calorie recipe.

Monday night had me craving chocolate and peanut butter. If I could have snorted it, or taken it intravenously, I -- I would have looked for another option.

The point is, I really wanted some peanut butter in my chocolate. And I found it in here, substituting a boxed brownie mix for the chocolate batter. (I know a lot of foodies turn their noses up at boxed mixes, but I don't think that's warranted for a good brownie mix.)

These are amazingly good. Rich and fudgy chocolate is complemented by sweet peanut butter reminiscent of the pb in Reese's peanut butter cups. But putting how delicious these are into works is difficult, particularly when your mouth is filled with them.
The only thing I might add is 1/3 to 1/2 bag of semi-sweet morsels to the chocolate batter. But never mind; they're scrumptious with or without extra chocolate.

Actually, I think I have to stop typing and go get another brownie. Excuse me.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies (adapted)
1 boxed brownie mix for a 13x9 pan, prepared according to box directions

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil, spraying the bottom of the foil-covered pan with cooking spray.

Prepare peanut butter swirl: using a stand mixer, beat peanut butter, sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, and egg until well blended.

Spread two-thirds of the prepared chocolate brownie batter into the bottom of the pan. Top with 6 large (or 12 small) dollops of peanut butter mixture. Top with remaining 1/3 of brownie batter. With tip of knife, cut and twist through mixtures to create swirled effect.

Bake brownie 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge comes out almost clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

When cool, cut brownie lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces.

Yields 24.

Grade: A

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh... My.. Goodness. Those are my absolute almost favorite brownies ever! (My first is a caramel swirl, but peanut butter falls right behind)

I'll be making these in a day or two

Anonymous said...

ooooh! I am craving those brownies!! too bad I can't find any brownie mix over here :(

- Carolyn

Laura Rebecca said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laura Rebecca said...

Carolyn! Hello! Go here for the original recipe, which has ingredients for the brownie batter, plus the PB swirl.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

You have no idea how much I needed one of these yesterday! This recipe is a keeper.

Glad I found your site!

Susan from Food "Blogga"

Anonymous said...

That looks good...soooo good.

I'm with you on the boxed brownie mix thing. When I'm in the mood for chocolate brownies without a lot of work, a boxed mix can't be beat!

Anonymous said...

Merci beaucoup, Laura!! You are one of the best friends a girl can have! Now I can make them over here in France :) I just wish these Europeans would come to understand the magic of chocolate and peanut butter.

-Carolyn

Laura Rebecca said...

Thanks, everyone! These are too easy NOT to make, so please indulge your sweet tooth!

Susan, I think "Food Blogga" is my new favorite blog title.

Carolyn: I was just thinking that a Nutella Brownie would be delicious. Have to figure out the proportions...

Anonymous said...

I'm going to try to make these for my hubby....he loves all things peanut butter.

Papa J said...

This will be a good way to fatten the kids up!

Wait...that sounds like the wicked witch in Hanzel and Gretel.

YUM. (To the recipe...not the kids.)

Anonymous said...

Laura,

I looked over this recipe again this morning and am planning my own lil' twist, but you never did mention in the recipe what to do withthe last third of the batter.

Just eat it with a spoon?

Laura Rebecca said...

Sorry, Jerry; I am a doof.

I just corrected the recipe: just top the PB dollops with the remaining 1/3 of the batter.

Thanks for catching that!

Anonymous said...

Now, Sunday night has me craving chocolate and pb, thanks to your pictures! Wow! Those look great!

Anonymous said...

Oh, they looked sooooo good but they didn't come out so great tasting. Could have just swirled plain peanut butter in as I've done in the past and the taste would have been great. Disappointing!

Laura Rebecca said...

Hm, I'm sorry these didn't work out for you. Can did anything, in particular, seem funny about the process? I've made these several time and they've turned out nicely.

Anonymous said...

I think using just plain peanut butter and not all the other stuff is fine. I may be comparing them to what I make.....brownies with toffee milk chocolate bar, peanut butter, and on top a cookie dough.....amazing!! My brownie mix may not be my favorite either. I'll try them again with just plain peanut butter, maybe the egg and the flour made it too cake like for my taste, I like ooey and gooey brownies!

Laura Rebecca said...

You're right; the peanut butter here is turned into more of a batter with the addition of flour & egg, so it bakes up with the brownie. The consistency reminds me of the PB in Reese's peanut butter cups, which aren't ooey gooey.

If there's a from-scratch brownie recipe you like that works for a 9x13 pan, you can definitely use that instead of a box mix. When I use a box mix, though, I buy darkest chocolate kind I can find. For example, Duncan Hines' Milk Chocolate brownie mix doesn't pack enough of a chocolate wallop for me, but I might go for their Dark Chocolate Fudge.

I haven't tried them yet, but the Ghirardelli mixes look pretty great, too.

ThePrincessMommy said...

Very yummy! I used chunky peanut butter and enjoyed them very much. It made the box brownies much more rich, which was great b/c we were satisfied with a smaller portion at a time. ;)

Anonymous said...

These look yummmmy and are in the oven as we speak! Look and smell delicious! Can't wait to try! :)