Sunday, February 3, 2008

Don't lick the Screen


Lick the beaters, the spoon, your fingers, the knife and your plate. These are THAT good in my opinion. I have been tweaking a basic brownie recipe for the past six months that I found in my mom's recipe box. The recipe was tattered and and speckled with dried batter (a sign of a winner in my book!). My mom rarey makes brownies from scratch anymore as she is a woman of convenience and the $.88 boxed brownie mix. She did remember that she used to bake these from scratch all of the time when she was my age and first married to my dad but doesn't remember where she got the recipe.

The first time I baked the brownies according to the recipe but they were not very chocolatey and way too cakey for my liking. I did some tweaking (more/less eggs, sugar, butter, chocolate, cocoa powder, etc) every time I have made them and lets just say that these brownies came out to be the Brownies I had dreamed of. I only hope to have continued success with the recipe as written, if not, I am not afraid to tweak some more until pure brownie perfection is achieved. **Fingers crossed for future success!!

After my latest tweaks I stood there looking at the batter in my mixing bowl. Not wanting to be disappointed by another plain-jane-so-so brownie I decided to jazz them up a bit. In my book chocolate, cheesecake and peanut butter is a combination created by the Gods. And let's just say the God's have shined down upon this recipe. These brownies are fudgey, gooey and oh so chocolately (thanks to THREE different kinds of chocolate) with a creamy peanut-buttery cheesecake swirled throughout not once but twice. If that wasn't enough peanut butter overload these babies are topped with chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the last five minutes of baking. Just long enough for them to melt into the brownies a bit but still retain their shape making these brownies fall into the FOOD PORN category.
Go ahead and indulge!

Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
3/4 cup butter, very soft (not melted but softer than room temp)
1 cup sugar
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cups creamy PB
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

5-6 Reese's peanut butter cups (regular size) cut into 6-8 pieces each
IMPORTANT: Do NOT omit the Reese's Peanut Butter cups. They take these brownies over the top and add the "Double" Peanut Butter taste the title tepts tastebuds with

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8" square pan with foil and lightly coat with PAM cooking spray.

In a microwave safe bowl melt the two baking chocolate squares in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth and melted after stirring. Do not scortch! Remove from microwave and allow to come to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, Beat together butter and sugar until combined. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix to combine. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and wisk together. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture. Do not overmix.

In separate mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat until just combined.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate brownie batter into prepared pan. Evenly drop 1/2 of cheesecake batter in dollups over brownie batter. Run a knife through both mixtures to slightly swirl.

Dollop remaining brownie batter and cheesecake batter over swirled mixture. Run knife through the browine and cheesecake dollups (not all the way through the already swirled layer) to create a swirled pattern.

Bake for 40-45 minutes**, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. Do not overbake or they will harden, if underbaked they will be too gooey. Every oven is different so watch and check these after about 35-40 minutes of baking to ensure propper doneness.

**After about 35-40 minutes of baking (with about 5-7 minutes of baking time left, you just need to eyeball it) gently place cut up Reese's cups over top of almost fully baked brownies. Finish baking until a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. The Reese's PB cups will melt but hold their shape slightly. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting and serving.

NOTE: I have not baked the brownie recipe without the Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl and Reese's on top so I am not sure how the brownies themselves rate. Let's just say I may not find out as I am in love with the Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe.

NOTE 2/13/08: I changed and added 5-7 minutes the baking time as a few people who have made the recipe indicated a longer bake time was needed than oringinally posted. The recipe listed above reflects those changes.
All ovens are different so be sure to keep an eye on your brownies to prevent overbaking. Brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.



15 comments:

Melissa said...

OMG! I HAVE to try those!!!!! I guess some extra time on the treadmill is worth it ;)

Linds said...

Amazing. These look absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing your 'heaven sent' recipe! :)

Lindsay said...

W00T! I have been counting down the days for this post.

(Richinlove)

test it comm said...

Brownies with cream cheese, peanut butter and Reese's Peanut Butter cups...mmm...

Deborah said...

::drooling::

Jaime said...

oh my!!!
:::licking the screen::: ;)

Anonymous said...

Can't. Help. Licking. Screen.

Mollie said...

To quote Jimmy Carter, "I have lusted in my heart."

Man do those look good....

Katie B. said...

All other brownie recipes should just surrender now...

Shelby said...

Oh my, those look absolutely SINFUL!!

Carrie said...

Your food porn kills me!

Anonymous said...

I just made these last night and I can't believe I didn't dive into them right when I pulled them out of the oven. I wanted to wait till they cooled completely and before that came, it was my bed time. Thank goodness this morning was a 'gym day' for me to cover up having one of these. They are awesome! I brought most to work since my hubby isn't home this week. These are dangerous to PB & Choc lovers!

The Peanut Butter Boy said...

Aptly named post, no doubt about that. While not quite cookies, these brownies look irresistible =). I did notice at least 2 peanut-butter-containing cookies on your site, one being monster cookies! Although given how ridiculous these brownies look, I'll see what the other judges say. Maybe we could just mush them into flat circles in our minds...

I'd like to add that I don't believe that "high fructose corn syrup" and "fast food" are contributing to obesity in this country, I think it's insanely talented bloggers such as yourself, pushing your irresistible concoctions on the masses.

- The Peanut Butter Boy

bakingblonde said...

Peanutbutter Boy, You are the man of my dreams. Peanut Butter is one of my all time favorite foods and you represent the food that holds my heart.

Brownies, cookies, cake, as long as it has PB in it is a winner in my book!

Love your new competition for PB cookies!! You sooooooo need to have one for brownies!!

Cristine said...

Thank you for an AMAZING recipe! These are delicious!!!