The weather has been quite cool this weekend, and daydreams of brownies were dancing in my mind … warm from the oven, moist and chewy in the middle, a little crispy on the top and edges. So, of course I had to make some, and I knew right away that only my Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Brownie would satisfy this craving.

Since this is a classic in our family, I invited Mere over and we chatted while I mixed these together. She bakes them quite often now, but I hope that the plateful I sent home with her tasted even better since they were made with love by Mum 💗

I like to start my baking by setting out the mise en place, that frou-frou way of saying “set all your ingredients out before you start to make sure you have everything and it’s at hand when you need it.” So, take a look at mine … any thing missing?

Yes, I got a few steps into the recipe when I realized I hadn’t gotten the eggs out. Oops! Fortunately, I had them and didn’t have to stop everything to run to the store.

Anyway, scarcely more than a half hour later, the house smelled wonderful and sweet, the brownies were cooling, and we were counting the minutes until we could cut them and have that first delicious bite.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter a 9″ square or 11″ x 7″ baking dish.

Beat the the peanut butter and butter until blended. Gradually add the sugars and cream until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Then add dry ingredient and mix on low speed until blended in. Don’t over mix, as this can toughen the brownies. Finally, stir in the chocolate pieces.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, testing for doneness at 30 minutes (look for both a nice colour on top and for an inserted toothpick or knife to come out clean).  Exercise patience, and let the brownies cool before cutting (I know from experience that if you cut them too soon, they’ll tend to fall apart at the edges … if you go by the theory that the baker gets all the crumbs, that’s not such a bad thing.

After the brownies have cooled, enjoy your peanut buttery, chocolatey reward. You could drizzle the top with melted chocolate, but around here we can’t wait for that!