Guys I’m so excited. Like literally sooooo excited to be bringing you chocolate and peanut butter today!! As you’ll know by now, chocolate and peanut butter is my favourite flavour combination and I know you guys love it too! It’s also to make up for leaving you guys hanging for a little while… My bad and a bucket full of soz! My only excuse is that my real (day) job has been extremely busy and I’ve been in Auckland more than I’ve been at home the past couple of weeks… But still, I’m hoping that with this peace offering you’ll forgive me? 🙂
Mmm oozing chocolate… This recipe was inspired by these peanut butter blondies from The Food Charlatan. I was just really in a chocolate and peanut butter mood and these certainly hit the spot! They’re soft and just the right amount of crumbly with that salty peanut butter hit. The chocolate is quickly frozen then swirled through the bars so that you get big mouthfuls of lush chocolate ganache in every bite of peanut butter bar. What could be better? I actually took these over to my sister’s new place after I made them because she moved out! Can you believe it? I can’t! 😉 Just kidding Alex… She didn’t really need my help on moving day, but I knew that she would be hungry later because when do you ever have time to eat when you move? So these and some bread for a late lunch were very much appreciated!
Now that I’m looking at these pictures again I really want a bar… This is probably a stupid question, but do you ever wish that you could just eat whatever you wanted without getting fat? If I could, I would totally just eat these bars ALL DA TIME. Unfortunately if I only ate baking I would end up the size of a house… So… Treat time it is! I must say, I often have a bit of a weakness in the afternoon, especially if lunch wasn’t very satisfying (don’t you hate that??) and I happen to have chocolate lying around. Which sometimes happens. And then it’s just a chocofest! I do share, sometimes…
Anyway, moving on! These bars are so easy, they should definitely make it into your go-to treat repertoire. You could even freeze some and then just chuck one in the microwave when you want something sweet, how easy is that?? Just call me the queen of treats. Seriously, make these you won’t regret it. Especially when you’ve got a mouth full of warm peanut buttery goodness mixed in with a rich chocolate ganache… Happy baking!
- 75g (1/2 stick) butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 tspn vanilla essence
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbspn milk, of any kind
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tspn baking powder
- 1/2 tspn salt
- 1 Tbspn white sugar, to top with
- [b]Chocolate Ganache[/b]
- 1/2 cup (heavy) cream
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- In a microwave safe bowl, place the chocolate and microwave on low for 2-3 minutes. The chocolate should be mostly melty or very soft.
- Pour the cream over the top of the chocolate and microwave again for a further minute. Then whisk slowly, starting from the middle, until the mixture homogenizes into a smooth and silky ganache. If the chocolate isn’t melted enough, microwave the mixture again in 30 second bursts.
- Cover and put in the freezer for about an hour, or until is it hard to the touch on top.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 22cmx22cm (9inx9in) square pan and line with baking paper.
- In a bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir together the melted butter and brown sugar. Then stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, eggs and milk, mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the wet mixture and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use the spoon to spread it into the corners.
- Take the ganache out of the freezer and use a large spoon to scoop out balls of ganache. Push each ball into the batter at random intervals, covering the ganache ball with batter as best you can.
- Make sure that there is enough ganache for every mouthful to have some chocolate in, then with the back of the spoon, swirl the ganache around. This will make it nice and chocolatey.
- Sprinkle the Tbspn of white sugar over the top.
- Bake for 27-30 mins, or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before turning out onto the rack to cool completely.
- Once completely cooled, cut into squares.
- The bars will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.
