Saturday, August 11, 2012

A little bit of heaven

I deserve a bit of heaven right now. It's only 11:30, yet I've gone to Panera for breakfast, coffee and a long reading time, zipped through the high end grocery store (love buying a couple bottles of wine before nine a.m.), loaded the dishwasher, mixed up chocolate peanut butter bars, washed the baking dishes and figured out what's for lunch. I need a break.

The "heaven" is the way the condo smells after making the bars. I'm fairly convinced that the dessert course at the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to feature some combination of chocolate and peanut butter (since we will have perfect bodies in heaven, no one has to worry about nut allergies).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cold water
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup refrigerated egg product, or 3 eggs lightly mixed
1 1/4 cup flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Line a 9 x 9 x 2 pan with foil, coming up over the edges. Spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside . Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in medium size bowl in the microwave. Add the cold water and sugar and whisk until combined. Add the eggs or egg product, oil and vanilla, whisking until combined. Add 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder; whisk again. Batter will be thin.

Put the peanut butter in a small bowl. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup of the batter. Set aside.

Add the cocoa powder and the remaining 1/4 cup of flour to the plain batter; mix. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Pour this batter into the prepared pan.

Plop the peanut butter/batter mix randomly over the batter in the pan. Swirl gently with a thin spatula or knife.

Bake 20 - 25 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool completely before attempting to cut.

Cut into 20 bars (these are really rich).

I'm resisting (and they are still cooling, anyway) until company comes tonight. A bit of a rest, then it's back into the kitchen to work on dinner. It's easy enough, but I'd rather have it done ahead of time and reheat than have to do everything in the couple hours leading up to dinner. There's only so much space in my kitchen, and you really have to clean up well after yourself to make room to make the next dish. At least it keeps me fairly efficient.

I'll report back later on the taste of the brownies, but based on the taste of the batter, these are a winner.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha! My Peanut Butter bars we discussed earlier are slightly different and currently chillin in the freezer. ( I made the ones from Easter dinner!) Yours also sound delish! I may have to try these next. :)
Joy

melissa said...

So, as I was reading this post, mouth watering as I imagined those peanut butter bars...was thinking about zipping you off a note for the recipe and there it was! Yum!

And, btw. I think you're just a neat person. Not the first time it's crossed my mind, but wanted you to know. Totally a neat person. Cool even. :)

Diane said...

I think you think that because we are both introverts - we "get" one another in a special way. I'm really not that cool - not "cool" at all. Neat? Maybe in the personality type, not always so much in the housekeeping department!

Speaking of which, I'd better go clean the bathroom before Sharon gets here. I shed almost as much as your lab does!

Holly o:) said...

As someone who knows her personally, Diane is indeed very cool! One of my favorite people, actually. :)

Diane said...

And I didn't even pay her to say that! Or did I-? My mind is going. Maybe I paid her in brownies?

Holly, you do have to try this recipe. If cut into 20 pieces, it's only 1 carb and fairly low fat. And they are YUMMY. I need to get the leftovers in the freezer pronto.

Holly o:) said...

Excellent! I will definitely have to make them!