Peanut Butter Brownies with Butterscotch Ganache

In case you haven't noticed, I'm on quite a butterscotch kick. Seriously, that stuff tastes fantastic. So when I saw Lisa share this receipe, I knew I had to make it.

And what better reason than it's Thursday?

Peanut Butter Blondies with Butterscotch Ganache



Blondies:
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup salted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Ganache:
1 cup butterscotch chips
3 tablespoons cream

Note: These ingredients will get you a 9x13's pan worth of blondies. Want a jelly roll pan's worth? Double the recipe.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9-inch x 13-inch pan with parchment, creasing the corners so that they lie flat. Set aside.

Oh, this is totally going to be easy.

Step 2. In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy.



Goopy! I used smooth peanut butter. Usually I will go with crunchy peanut butter, but I don't think it would have been good with this recipe.

Add the sugars and whip until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.



Brown sugar clumps. If you have any really solid pieces, break them up with a fork/spoon otherwise your mixer will end up throwing brown sugar clumps all over the bowl (or you).



Before adding the dry mix, it will be really good looking, but not thick.



Some people might even describe it as really wet.



Step 3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Step 4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. The batter will be fairly thick.



She's right, the batter will get to be very thick. You can't beat it too much, so make it a little thicker than you think you'd probably need to. Beat at low speed for a while and then speed it up to a medium speed to make sure it's effectively mixed.

One thing to note: if you don't have a dishwasher, you'll want to wash this stuff very quickly after we're done. Remember, we're working with peanut butter, so it will get crusty really quickly if you don't at least let it soak.

Step 4.5. Lick the beater.



Step 5. Pour/spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.



Step 6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the centre is set but not firm. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

I didn't take a picture of this, but there's no real way to get it evenly done, especially if you make a jelly roll pan's worth. So, give in to the fact that your sides will be a little crispy, but better to have the middle done and the side crispy than the side good and the middle too gooey.



But then it comes out and looks awesome!

Step 7. When the blondie is cool, prepare the butterscotch ganache. In the top of a double boiler over low-medium heat, stir the butterscotch chips just until melted. Remove from heat, stir until smooth and immediately pour over the cooled blondie.



I didn't take a picture of the making of the ganache, but it's pretty easy. Don't have a double boiler? Simply put one saucepan in another saucepan (smaller into bigger) filled with boiling water. In the top saucepan, put your ingredients (cream and butterscotch chips in this case). Keep mixing but doing it this way will keep it from burning the bottom of the saucepan.

Step 8. Refrigerate until set. Cut into squares. Or diamonds. Hell, I don't care.



It makes a lot when you double the recipe, but if you have friends and people who like sweets, these will go quickly.



One other note: Your pieces on the end will have these little weird shelves where they cooked over the side of the pan. If these really bother you, cut them off, but they taste good to me.

Verdict: Delicious! If I had it to do over again, I'd probably make a little extra ganache and cover it more thoroughly, but a really easy, quick recipe that many small children at birthday parties would love.

Peanut Butter Cup Proposal Brownies

When my family (specifically, my excellent baker aunts) asked what I wanted this holiday season, I responded I wanted baking equipment. And instead of an incessant stream of mockery, they not only purchased me the things I asked for (oh, hand mixer, how I heart you) they've totally embraced my infatuation with baking are excited to support me.

So it wasn't surprising when I randomly got an email from the Duchess today, out of the blue, informing me of a Peanut Butter Cup brownie recipe that has earned her proposals from happily married men, this sounded like the kind of thing I needed to try.

And here we go.

Ingredients:

• 12 tbsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons


• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


• 6 large eggs, room temperature


• 1¾ cups sugar


• 2 tsp vanilla


• 1½ cups flour


• ¼ tsp salt


• 24 miniature peanut butter cups (dark chocolate if you can find them), unwrapped

Start by chopping up the 12 oz of chocolate in a coarse manner. This makes it easier to melt.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees (If you don’t have an oven thermometer, buy or borrow one to check the accuracy of your oven.). Line a 13” x 9” pan with heavy foil; lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil (you can use the wrapper from the butter).


Melt butter and chocolate (microwave works well). You should consider using a better bowl than I did (make sure it's not metal -- remember, kids, metal in a microwave is a bad thing)



Beat eggs until foamy (wire whisk works well). Add sugar and beat until blended. Add cooled chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour and salt.


Lick the beater.


Scrape half the batter into the pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Arrange peanut butter cups evenly over batter, in four rows of six cups each. Press down lightly on each cup. Pour remaining batter into pan, carefully spreading it over peanut butter cups.


One thing to remember about this is that when you pour the rest of the mixture on top, the cups will have a habit of moving around in the mixture. So, if you are slightly ocd about these things like I am, be very careful about pouring the mixture on top. If, however, you don't care -- pour away.



Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (be careful not to insert it into the middle of a peanut butter cup).

Cool completely in pan, then remove, using foil as handles. Refrigerate at least four hours, then cut carefully between peanut butter cups. If you leave this in overnight, or for up to 24 hours, make sure to cover with foil and remove at least 45 minutes before you want to serve.