Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

Here’s what I said about these brownies back in 2011:

Another experimental brownie recipe that could use some tweaking. I would not use Turbinado sugar again. The brownies had a somewhat crystallized texture to them. Instead I would go with my regular standby of all dark brown sugar.

These taste best when completely cooled – otherwise they tend to flake apart when handling and when eating.

This recipe could use either more sugar or more salt. Oddly, I can’t put my finger on which it is. I did omit 1/4 teaspoon of salt (by accident!) but then reasoned with the salted peanut butter the recipe should be OK. In retrospect I would have added that 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Who would think such a small ingredient could make such a big impact?!

ingredients.

¾ c. unsalted butter
2 T. corn syrup
⅓ c. good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. peanut butter (not natural)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 c. dark brown sugar, packed
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
¾ c. flour
⅓ c. peanut butter mixed with ⅓ c. dark brown sugar (packed)

directions.

Arrange a shelf in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Line an 8x8x2 inch pan with heavy-duty tinfoil. Spray with cooking spray. Alternatively you can grease an 8 or 9-inch cast iron frying pan with some oil. (I used coconut.)
In a heavy-bottom medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Heat until bubbles come up around the edge of the pan. Stir in corn syrup. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 c. peanut butter and stir. Stir in cocoa. Stir in salt, vanilla and sugar. Stir in egg and egg yolks until well blended. Stir in flour and blend well.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Drop bite-sized chunks of peanut butter/dark brown sugar mixture on top the brownie batter and press down with a fork.
Place on shelf and bake until brownies start to just pull away from the sides, about 20 to 25 minutes. Err on the side of undercooking rather than overcooking.
Cool in the pan on a cooling rack. If using a square pan, when completely cool, invert onto a flat baking sheet, peel off the foil and re-invert onto a cutting board. Cut into two-inch squares. Makes 16. If using a cast iron frying pan slice into 8 even pie pieces.

Recipe rating:  1/2