February 03, 2008

Brownies Must Contain Chocolate

Most importantly, if you haven’t yet done so, get yourself over to Culinate and enter the Death by Chocolate contest to win a trip for 2 to Napa Valley and then vote for me so that I can meet you there! Once you’ve done that, come on back to read about some Peanut Butter Blondies with Chocolate Chips.

I got this recipe from the Allrecipes.com Tried & True Cookies book, which I received about a year ago, or rather, I should have received over a year ago. In actual fact it didn’t make it into my possession until this past August. It got sidetracked at my brother’s house. I feared it had taken up permanent residence there too as every time they’d come to visit I’d remind them to bring my cookie book and they never did. Of course there were excuses about why the book never made the journey, the most popular being that the Baby Genius had stolen it and hidden it in his mountain of books, (and I do mean mountain, that kid loves to read). But I didn’t buy it. Baby Genius made me suspicious of this tale as well, when he informed me that he and Mom had made cookies for the car prior to coming to visit. I had a pretty good idea of the source of their recipe. Eventually though, after I pleaded for the return of the book and promised to bake cookies from it and mail them proof, I got it back. After the epic battle that it took to get my cookie book, you’d think I would have baked from it sooner. Instead, it sat on my shelf, mixed into my mountain of books and was forgotten for some time. I discovered it again when I went home a few weeks ago and have since put it to good use. These Peanut Butter Blondies with Chocolate Chips were the first recipe I tried and the results encouraged me to make lots more.


Originally these bars were (incorrectly) named Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies. I changed the name because it was just wrong. I started making these bars, as I often do, without thoroughly reading the recipe and therefore I was expecting, as the title would suggest, a brownie that had peanut butter in it. Well I mixed up the batter and as I looked at the final product before scrapping it into the pan to put in the oven, something didn’t seem right. That something, was the fact that I was looking at a pale batter without any chocolate in it. Someone had the nerve to call this bar cookie, a brownie, despite the total lack of anything chocolate. I remedied this error in two ways. First, I added a cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking and second, I renamed them so that they wouldn’t fool anyone else. That made everything better.



The second recipe that I tried was for Coffee Liqueur Raisin Cookies. They were a very nice switch up on an oatmeal raisin cookie, although next time I probably would have added some instant coffee powder to the batter give it a more pronounced flavour. Mine may have been lacking though because I halved the recipe as the original made 7 dozen cookies and I didn’t need that many cookies in my life. I wanted 7 dozen cookies in my life, but I didn’t need them. It’s a never ending struggle of good versus evil.


Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Chips, (Adapted from this recipe submitted by Missy to Allrecipes.com)


1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and butter. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Add in chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into 16 squares.


Vote for me in the Death by Chocolate contest


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22 comments:

Manggy said...

Ah, so those are peanut butter... blondies? :) I love fudgy anything-- I would like to try this, I'm sure my brother would scarf it all down in minutes...

Peabody said...

Another recipe for my peanut butter chocolate loving husband...he thanks you.

Chibog in Chief said...

that's a stunning entry!! goodluck..with all these beautiful entries i bet choosing the winner is gonna be a headache!! will try this recipe this weekend!!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Absolutely! No chocolate, no brownie Brilynn! And chocolate and peanut butter, well . . . nothing more is needed.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I agree -- all brownies must have chocolate! Good luck in the contest; I wish all of my favorite bakers could win and go to Napa together.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

It's only 4:30 in the morning, and I'm running through the ingredients to see if I have everything to make these. Chocolate and peanut butter--that's the way to make a Monday happy!

Big Boys Oven said...

oh I wish I can have some in my cookie jar!

Oggi said...

Yup those are blondies! Will make this recipe this week'

Hope you win.:)

Veron said...

must be brownie time, I made some too. And yes, brilynn, they must contain chocolate!

Dana said...

These look delicious! But yes, to be "brownies," they must contain chocolate...hence the "brown" part of the name... When will people learn??

Cookie baker Lynn said...

So true - how can it be a brownie without chocolate? These look like they need to come live in my kitchen!

Annemarie said...

Ooh, these blondies are really appealing to my sweet tooth. As I was shocked to learn after making peanut butter brownies for my british friends, many of them treat the chocolate-peanut butter combo with suspicion and won't eat it. Sacrilege! More for me, though. :)

Suzana Parreira said...

Brilynn, I can’t imagine a more beautiful entry to the contest - brownies are the best. Good luck!

JEP said...

I'm always anxious to try a new PB & choc recipe!

test it comm said...

Peanut butter blonies with chocolate chips...mmm...

Gigi said...

Great brownies! Mr Gigi cakes only likes chocolate and peanut butter desserts. I can't wait to make these for him.

Anamika:The Sugarcrafter said...

brilynn, without chocolates, there is no life in this life..cheers to you words' brownies must contain CHOCOLATE'

Anonymous said...

anything is good with chocolate is right. so right, i went to the grocery store at midnight to buy some fudge! i know it's bad but when it's calling, it's calling!

love the PB cookies!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting and leaving a mssg! I love your last few chocolate entries - the images are stunning and yuum! Happy cooking!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. Anything w/o chocolate can't be labeled a brownie. How absurd! These look like yummy peanut butter blondies to me.

Jenny said...

Ah Brilyn, I have bad news for you - I looked into this contest and found you had to be a resident of the US to enter it! :-(
Why are these wonderful things always neglecting us Canadians!
Which is too bad because these look like something my oldest son would inhale in minutes!

Sara said...

They both sound delicious. Good luck in the contest!