Yesterday I was in no mood to do any sort of school work (although I did eventually bring myself to do it). I woke up at 4:30 AM and ran with B.O.M.F (Back On My Feet) downtown in Baltimore. I met a really cool guy named Robert. He is fairly new to B.O.M.F. We ran 3 miles together and talked with each other the whole time… about sports, life, running, and other random things. He is a very faithful and motivated person (he shared with me some of the song lyrics and poems he had written as a way to motivate himself and remind him of the direction he wants to go in/the future he wants to have, etc). He is definitely has a bright future ahead of him and I hope he sticks it out with B.O.M.F. After I preoccupied myself with running, I went to class and then to the mall to return my broken straightener for a FREE one (WOOHOO!!).
But once that was all over…I was again bored. The only thing left to do was bake…and eat. I made Oatmeal Maple Breakfast Scones (recipe to come soon) and a birthday “treat” for one of my best friends, Romo! Today is his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROMO!!!). I saw a recipe for Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Ganache Icing on Smitten Kitchen. They looked delicious (her photo is much more professional/delicious-looking than mine- I need to work on my photo-taking skills) and so I decided to make them for Romo.
Makes 32 brownies, more or less, depending on how you cut them
Ingredients for Brownies
- 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, see note
Ingredients for Ganache
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Directions for Brownies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.
Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.
Directions for Ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute. Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms. Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.
Deb (from smitten kitchen) says that “These “brownies” are more blondie than cakey, with an excellent peanut butter-chocolate contrasts and fantastic edges, for those of you into that sort of thing. Have a glass of milk handy.” These brownies were very good…my roommates (becky, hillary, kelly) and Romo and his roommates (deeg, rob, and andy) all tried them and approved….although I guess they could have just lied to me and said they were good just to be nice. who knows. All I know is that I thought that they were delicious! I will say, though..they were very rich/dense. Which is not a bad thing.
I was in a food coma yesterday after polishing off the rest of the raw batter (is it just me or do you purposely leave some batter in the mixing bowl after you pour the batter in the baking pan?) , several brownies, and a couple scones. Don’t judge me. anyway…Romo, I hope you have a great birthday!
Hope you are all having a good week and are doing well on your midterms (if you have them)… the weekend is almost here 
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I had my midterms and they were evil! Thank goodness they’re over
Peanut butter brownies. Yum!! I love Smitten Kitchen. Her pictures always looks so pretty. Some of the food I’ve made from her site definitely doesn’t look as nice, but it sure does taste good! It all ends up in the same place anyway. Haha.
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