Brownie Peanut Butter Surprise

Remember last week when I posted about these awesome Peanut Butter Cookies? Well, it being January, there was another birthday I needed to bake for and I needed something easy to ship. I saw a recipe for Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies on a blog I read, but I knew I couldn't do that because those need to be refrigerated. Just seeing the photos on that post made me want peanut butter brownies, STAT. I had a brainstorm - why not make those so-simple peanut butter cookies and put them inside a brownie? (I've also been intrigued by putting stuff inside brownies ever since I made these babies.)

So I did. And Oh. My. God. I'm glad had to mail some of them and I was able to give the rest away (except for the few I had to test out to make sure they were edible). Otherwise I would've had to go shopping for bigger pants. The balls of cookie dough held their shape (but were indeed cooked, as they spent 45 minutes in the oven). They almost had the consistency of the peanut butter inside a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. And soft, gooey, chocolatey brownies were all around them. I highly recommend you make this recipe. Now. But be sure to give some away. Or hide them in your closet so your husband and kids won't get them first. I won't tell, I promise.

So easy - just plop down your cookie dough balls and cover with brownie batter!

Peanut Butter Cookie Surprise Brownies

Printer-friendly recipe

Ingredients:

For the Peanut Butter Surprise:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

For the Brownies:

¾ cup butter, melted

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 inch square pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter, egg, and 1 cup sugar. Mix until combined. Drop by spoonfuls in evenly spaced rows in your pan. You will have leftover dough. (Drop the rest by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, press with a fork to flatten, and bake for about 8-10 minutes.)

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, beat well with spoon. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Pour over cookie dough drops in the pan and spread to the edges. (The cookie dough should not show).

Bake 40-45 minutes or until the brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.  Cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 brownies.

Source: brownie recipe from Hershey’s

Printed from www.CrazyforCrust.com

Enjoy!