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Peanut butter and chocolate brownies recipe appeared in The Observer in June 2011 in a recipe column written by a man with a posh name Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The photo looked gorgeous, and I have been drooling at it ever since. As I have friends coming for a cup of tea today, I decided to try a new recipe.
For the brownie layer you will need
240g dark chocolate, at least 70%, (Hugh says chopped, I broke it into pieces, also used a variety of different brands, as I have half eaten bars all over the house, so mine was a combination of Lindt sea salt chocolate, Green & Black dark chocolate and some dark Russian chocolate that stayed in the cupboard for too long, lol)
120g unsalted butter, plus a little more for greasing the tin
120g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g plain flour
¼ tsp salt
Heat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Lightly grease a 22cm x 22cm x 5cm brownie tin and line with baking parchment or foil. If you don't have a brownie tin (I don't), just make a partition in a bigger tin with a loaf tin, works as good as the brownie tin.Stir the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until smooth, then set aside to cool. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until very light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the flour and salt until just combined. Spread the batter in the tin, though keep back about six tablespoonfuls for later.
For the peanut butter layer
380g cream cheese, room temperature (frankly, just one tub of cream cheese is enough)
227g jar of Whole Earth smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g caster sugar (granulated will work as well)
2 eggs
3 tbsp double cream (I used single, as it was rich enough)
3 tbsp plain flour, sifted
Next, make the peanut butter layer of the brownie. Beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter and vanilla until very smooth. Gradually add the sugar, beating until it is well blended, light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the cream. Gently fold in the flour. Spread the peanut batter over the brownie layer and dot the top with spoonfuls of the reserved chocolate mixture.
Using a wooden skewer or a thin knife, swirl the spoonfuls of chocolate batter through the peanut butter layer, so it makes a pattern on the top of the brownies. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the edges of the peanut butter layer are puffed up and centre is set. Cool in the tin on a rack and cut when completely cold.
The process of cooking was enjoyable, especially licking the spoon with the remains of the chocolate and peanut mixtures.
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