Peanut Butter Brownies

Last week, I promised the kids I nanny for that we would make brownies for Valentine’s Day.

We made the traditional kind, which of course were delicious. But when it came time for me to make a dessert for the women’s dessert outreach our church is having this Sunday, I wanted to do something different.

I’m not sure if I forget that I have peanut butter when I go to the store, but somehow I ended up with three jars of it in my pantry. Knowing I had plenty to use, I thought about making a peanut butter pie, but the memory of the brownies I’d had earlier in the week slipped back into my mind. So I started thinking about how I could combine the two ingredients.

Every so often, I spread peanut butter on my regular brownies. (Sometimes, you just can’t have one without the other.) And so, I flipped-flopped the two ingredients. This time, I’m spreading chocolate on peanut butter brownies.

Next time I’m totally making almond butter brownies. Be excited.

What about you? Did you do any baking this weekend? What did you make?

Peanut Butter Brownies

Makes: Around 32 brownies (depending on how you cut them)

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the ganache:

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 13 x 9 by 2-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar with an electric mixer until combined and fluffy. Mix in eggs, applesauce and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats and baking soda. Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until combined.

Bake until brownies are golden and puffed on the top, around 35-40 minutes. Insert a toothpick to test — it should come out dry.

Cool completely on a rack.

Make the ganache: Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.

In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk in the butter and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Spread ganache over the brownies and let stand until the chocolate has set, about 20 minutes.