Gooey Divinity: Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

There once was a weekend I got really busy.

It was as though all hell broke loose.

It was called Alabama in Saratoga. 

Then there was the weekend after that I offered to make a cake as a “Bon Voyage” cake for a girl I envied.

I dreamed about going abroad for a year while I offered and realized too late that I wasn’t that interested in doing so.

So I found a recipe and tried my damnedest to make something nice while I simultaneously made a brownie recipe from Martha. 

The cake came out fine.  People ate it and enjoyed it. 

The brownies came out DIVINE (albeit a little too gooey).

Peanut butter and chocolate: the ultimate pair. 

I used a lot of butter:

  

I globbed a lot of peanut butter:

I swirled to my heart’s content:

And then I enjoyed the middle piece of gooey, swirled peanut-butter-chocolate-y-goodness:

Then I ran out the door as quick as I could with a still-melting frosted cake, parked a half mile away from work, and was given many compliments on my serving skills and baking ability.  It was a good day.

The next day was great too, since I had peanut butter brownies for breakfast. 

For the brownies:

1 stick unsalted butter

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)

4 ounces semisweet chocolate

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For PB Swirl stuff:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Now to the good stuff:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining.

Make batter: Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool a little.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Mix granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs. Mix. Mix in vanilla.

 Add dry ingredients until everything is incorporated.

Make filling: Mix everything together until smooth.

Pour one-third to one-half of the chocolate batter into pan. Drop dollops of peanut butter filling into it.  Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes. (or for divine gooeyness, a little earlier)  Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.