What do you do when you want something like a brownie, but you can’t eat chocolate? You make these peanut butter smoothies, another treat from my beloved King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. It’s funny to describe something chocolate-free as fudgy, but these absolutely are.
While the original recipe calls for baking in a 9 x 9 pan, I made mine in an 8 x 8. The edges are definitely darker than I wanted them to be, but the end result is delicious nonetheless. I covered mine for the last 5 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning on the top, and the center of my squares fell as it cooled, which was fine. You could substitute chocolate chips or lightly salted peanuts for the peanut butter chips if you like, and I’m sure they’d be equally delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add sugars and beat to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
Add flour and beat on low speed until just combined, then mix in peanut butter chips.
Spread batter in the baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and pull away from the pan; if you use a cake tester on the center, it should have some moist crumbs sticking to it. I covered my bars for the last 5 minutes of baking to prevent them from over-browning on the top.
Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan before cutting. Cut into 16 bars.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 