Recipe: Peanut Butter Brownies

Ann of Harvest Moon by Hand originally shared this recipe on her blog. I'm an enormous fan of peanut butter, but if you try it with another nut butter,would you please share your results in the comments? Ann says to remind you about the most important part of this recipe: DO NOT OVERBAKE. I can't wait to try them for myself!

These brownies were so easy to make. They are supposed to have a chocolate-peanut butter frosting (kind of like a Reese's Peanut Butter Bar), but I chose not to frost this particular batch.



Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Brownies
(Elim Lutheran Church Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter or margarine (I used dairy-free butter)
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup white corn syrup
1 pound peanut butter
2 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Cream butter or margarine, sugar, and corn syrup until light and fluffy. Do not overmix. Add eggs and mix until well blended. Add flour and salt. Mix only until ingredients are combined. Grease jelly roll pan. Flatten and spread batter. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Do not overbake. Cool and frost with peanut butter cocoa frosting.

FROSTING

4 T. margarine
½ cup hot water
3 cups powdered sugar
5 T. sifted cocoa
½ cup peanut butter
Directions:

Heat water, peanut butter, and margarine to boiling. Mix together sifted cocoa and powdered sugar. Add to peanut butter mixture. Mix until smooth, adding more hot water if necessary.

Notes:

When the brownies are baking – even towards the end – they look wiggly. I ended up baking them for a few minutes extra. Initially, when they were still warm, they were soft and delicious.

Everyone liked one and wanted a second one. What ended up happening, though, was that they hardened as they cooled. In fact, they turned out quite crisp. So, I would make these again, but this time bake 20-25 minutes. I think slightly underdone would be much better than overdone.

I didn’t frost the brownies, so I’m not sure what the frosting recipe tastes like. I’m sure it will be good if the flavor of the brownies themselves are any indication.

Ann has always enjoyed crafting: embroidery, needle-felting, needlepoint, crocheting, and cross-stitching. Her wide range of abilities is obvious as you browse her shop. Harvest Moon by Hand offers Waldorf-inspired window stars, natural children's toys, homeschool resources (art kits, postage stamp sets, and button collections), and home decor for creative, imaginative families and individuals.