Peanut Butter Brownies

Some of you will think I’ve finally gone too far and some of you will think I’ve come just far enough. 

     

Peanut Butter Brownies….

No, it’s nothing quite as simple as swirling some peanut butter through your standard brownie mix…oh no!

First you make the almost sickeningly rich fudgey brownie base layer, then when that has cooled you whip up a butter creamy peanut butter layer and smooth that neatly (?) over then once that has set to some degree in the fridge you drizzle over chocolate ganache and sprinkle chopped peanuts.

Oh, I should have mentioned don’t try and achieve anything else that day. Between the dishes created, the time spent gathering your ingredients at the supermarket, measuring, baking then cooling and you sneaking a taste at every stage it pretty took up the bulk of my day – though perhaps I should mention that I didn’t get out of bed till noon.

The point is this – I’m on holidays. My time is my own. If I want to waste a day making a recipe that has caught my eye some months ago but I can’t justify making as I’ll probably only have a small piece of as it actually even reads too rich for my blood – then I will!

At this point, it’s almost 6pm and it’s setting in the fridge.  Maybe, I should start thinking about what to do for the kids for dinner. For myself, I couldn’t touch another thing. My senses have been satiated by the mere act of cooking that dish, and if I’m to be honest, which I am, all the sneaky little tastes along the way.

This evening I look forward to browsing another half dozen cookbooks I picked up recently from the library. Who knows what will happen next?

Here’ s an abbreviated version of the recipe. The odd quantities come from the fact that I translated it from an American recipe.

1/Melt 250g butter + 285g dark chocolate together.

Whisk 1 cup white sugar + 1 cup brown sugar + 3 eggs together

Combine sugar and chocolate mixes together.

Stir in 1 cup plain flour + 1/3 cup cocoa powder (both sifted)

Bake for 30 min @ 180 degrees in a 33cm x 23cm lined tin then cool

2/ Blend 185g butter + 1 cup smooth peanut butter(just short of 375g jar)

Then add 2 cups icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and mix till creamy.

Spread evenly over cooled brownie base (smooth with the back of a spoon heated in hot water) then refrigerate.

3/ Heat 1/3 cup cream and whisk in 115g chocolate bits and stir. Drizzle artistically over peanut butter layer and sprinkle with ½ cup chopped peanuts..

Ta da!