the best of both worlds

Although I would never reject a chocolate-mint, chocolate-raspberry, chocolate-coconut, chocolate-chocolate, or chocolate-caramel combination (you get the point, yes?), you'd have trouble convincing me that anything was better suited for chocolate than peanut butter.


It's a magical union (most unlike that of, say, Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellweger) to be sure. I can't quite describe exactly what makes them so perfect for each other, but their compatibility is undeniable.

Scads of peanut butter brownie recipes are floating around out there. Some are brownies with peanut butter chips, others are peanut butter blondies with chocolate chips. Some have a peanut butter swirl, others have an entire layer devoted to peanut butter. Frankly, any of those would please me but on a whim, I chose the latter.

I opted to blend two recipes for these brownies. For the chocolate portion, I referred to Kristin of The Kitchen Sink, in whom I have complete and total confidence. However, I wanted a more substantial peanut butter flavor, so instead of using her peanut butter swirls, I went with a recipe from Slashfood.


Honestly, I don't think it would be possible to screw up such magnificent ingredients, and even though I had a bit of trouble spreading the peanut butter portion onto the chocolate part, the end result was still delectable.

Doubly Delicious Brownies
(adapted from here, there, and everywhere)

Chocolate:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Peanut Butter:
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan.

To make the chocolate portion, melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave (or the top of a double boiler, if you're fancy like that). Let cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
Whisk the sugar into chocolate mixture. Add the eggs, and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until well incorporated. Pour into prepared pan.

For the peanut butter part, beat together all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Spread as evenly as possible on top of the brownie batter in the pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached. Let cool, cut into bars, decide which flavor you want to hit your tastebuds first, and insert into mouth accordingly.