Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Chocolate Butterscotch Swirl Brownies - made April 10, 2013, recipe adapted from The Brownie Experience by Lisa Tanner

I had this written up yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it.  Then I heard about the bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon today and it seems really unimportant right now to talk about brownies and baking.  I'm thankful all my Boston friends are safe, that my runner friends weren't running the Boston Marathon this year and I grieve and pray for those who were impacted by the senseless tragedy.  And many thanks to all the first responders and everyone who rushes to help those impacted. 

This recipe was originally Chocolate Butterscotch Swirl Brownies but I substituted peanut butter for the butterscotch chips to make it a peanut butter chocolate brownie instead.  I like butterscotch but wanted to do the peanut butter rice krispie topping so I went with peanut butter for the base brownie as well.

Swirl the two batters together before baking

I ended up modifying the recipe more than I expected, mostly because I didn't have a few of the ingredients and partly because a couple of brownie recipes I've tried from this book haven't been spectacular.  I was hoping to up the yummy quotient with a few changes but was only marginally successful.  The texture was a bit weird. It wasn't dry but neither did it have that fudgy gooey-ness I was going for.  It was almost a halfway point between cakey and fudgy while being neither.  Taste-wise, it's hard to go wrong with a peanut butter and chocolate combination and as always, I like the crunch of the rice krispie topping.

6 ounces semisweet chocolate

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie topping
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups, Snickers or some combination of both, optional (I left them out)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 - 2 cups Rice Krispies (or more if you wish)

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line a 13 x 9 x 2” pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Melt chocolate chips over very low heat; set mixture aside.  In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Gradually stir in flour mixture.  Divide batter in half.  Blend peanut butter into one half of batter.  To remaining batter, thoroughly stir in melted chocolate.  In pan, alternate “globs” of peanut butter and chocolate batters checkerboard fashion until both mixtures are used.  Swirl together with a knife to marbleize.  Gently smooth top of batter with a small metal spatula to make an even layer.
3. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs.  Do not overbake.  5 minutes before removing from oven, sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups and/or Snickers.  Remove from oven when candies have melted slightly.  They will not/should not melt completely.
4. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter and 1 tablespoon butter in the top half of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water.  Stir until smooth.  Add Rice Krispies and stir until coated.  Pour over baked brownie and smooth into an even layer.  Cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.