Fun fact: March 1 (Sunday!) is National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day — a day virtually everyone in America can agree is AWESOME. Check out the collection of amazing peanut butter recipes — both savory and sweet — I rounded up for Paste if you need some ideas of appropriately delicious ways to take advantage of this event. (I personally tested every recipe on that list, so I can vouch for them all. If you’re a Brussels sprouts fan, give that Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Peanut Vinaigrette recipe a try. It sounds a bit strange, but it TOTALLY works.)
To celebrate such a worthy holiday, I grabbed a list off of the Paste gallery and baked up a batch of Peanut Butter Brownies (recipe courtesy of The Smitten Kitchen, so you know it’s a good one). These brownies are more blondie-like in nature, and are topped with a chocolate ganache that makes them just about perfect.
What are you doing to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, friends? Don’t worry — you still have a couple of days to decide! Got any go-to peanut butter recipes to share?
Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients (for brownies)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Ingredients (for ganache)
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Directions (for brownies)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 13″x9″ baking pan. Set aside.
- Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and beat until incorporated.
- Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, then reduce mixer speed to low.
- Beat in flour until just combined.
- Mix in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, then spread batter into prepared pan. (The batter will look like cookie dough, which will make you very excited.)
- Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top, and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 40-45 minutes). (Your house will smell incredible.)
- Cool COMPLETELY in pan on a cooling rack (about 1 1/2 hours).
Directions (for ganache)
- Put remaining 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
- Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let stand for one minute.
- Gently whisk in butter until butter and chocolate are melted into a smooth mixture.
- Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let set for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
- Eat ’em! (I stored our brownies in the fridge and loved them chilled. They can be stored at room temperature as well, in a sealed container, for up to three weeks.)