Peanut Butter Brownies

Brownie:  Brow-nie  aka the perfect comfort or celebratory food

Go big or go home.  When you go brownie, you go all the way.  You have loads of butter, excessive amounts of sugar, and a whole lotta chocolate.  This is not the time to experiment with cutting back sugar, or butter, or replacing eggs with apple sauce, or any of that nonsense.  The delectable combination of cocoa, butter, and sugar is rivaled only by the combination of tomatoes, cheese, and bread in my humble opinion.

Brownies are my weakness.  I make them very rarely, and this is for good reason.  I could eat half a pan in 10 minutes.  I have tried many brownie recipes - but this one is from the back of the Fry's Cocoa container, and it is the best.  I had this recipe memorized as at 12 year old, and I used to make these for my Gran and Grandpa (neither of whom have anything close to a sweet tooth) when I visited for the weekend.  More for me!

Peanut Butter Brownies

1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup cocoa
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Topping
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in a large saucepan on low heat.  Remove from heat and add cocoa.  Stir well.
Add in sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt and add all at once, mixing with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Pour into greased 9x13 pan.
Peanut butter topping
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan, and add peanut butter, icing sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly, and pour evenly over top of brownie batter.  Run a butter knife through the batter to mix the layers together.  Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until a cake tester or knife comes out clean. The peanut butter top will be a little soft, let sit until cooled before cutting.