Peanut Butter Brownies

Baking has been one of my favorite past times and especially so during COVID – 19. I love trying new recipes and substituting ingredients as needed. In this case, I used less butter and solid bittersweet chocolate for chocolate chips.

I’m not sure how I feel about using parchment paper for a baking pan liner but I gave it a try. Oven at 350.

In a small bowl, microwave 1 bar bittersweet chocolate and 8 T. butter for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave until melted. You may need to microwave an additional 30 seconds. Then whisk in 3 T cocoa powder until smooth.

In a separate bowl, for peanut butter swirl, combine 3 T soft butter, 1/2 C peanut butter, 1/3 C powdered sugar, dash of salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir 1 1/4 C sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp vanilla and 3 eggs until combined. Add melted chocolate mixture into egg mixture. Stir in 1 C flour until just mixed and do not over-mix. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and drop dollops of peanut butter mixture on top of brownie batter. Use a butter knife to swirl in the peanut butter.

Bake 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.

The brownies were delicious and not too sweet.