Peanut Butter Frosted Brownies

A couple weekends ago, we spent my friend Amanda's bachelorette weekend up at the cottage relaxing, laughing, and stuffing our faces. We managed to eat half a watermelon in less than a day, a whole lot of chips and of course some (necessary) baked goods. Amanda had mentioned on her own blog that she didn't think there were any recipes that could beat out the fudgey brownie box mixes - I accepted the challenge! I looked through my pins and favourite food blogs and decided on a recipe deemed "the best peanut butter brownies you'll ever have" on A Cup of Jo. She was not kidding. These brownies are dense, rich, fudgey, and of course chocolatey - everything you want in a brownie. All the girls loved them and we were sneaking slivers out of the fridge until they were gone (which didn't take very long). If you need something for a girls night, a family night, a games night or you just want some chocolate - make these, you will not be disappointed.

Chocolate Brownies

6 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate

3/4 cup salted butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp of brewed coffee, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9x9 square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan over a pot of boiling water, stirring continuously until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in the white and brown sugar. Mix in the coffee and vanilla. Beat in the eggs. Gradually add in the flour just until it is combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out (mostly) clean and let them cool.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 

(not natural)

1/4 cup salted butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Beat together the peanut butter and butter until combined. Add in the vanilla and icing sugar and beat until smooth. When the brownies have cooled frost and sprinkle with chocolate. Store in the refrigerator for 4 days.

If you haven't figured it out yet, these brownies definitely came out as victors in the boxed-brownie-mix challenge. They were a great post-dinner, pre-board games treat that made our bachelorette weekend extra special. These brownies are best straight from the fridge and washed down with the drink of your choice - either milk, or some red wine perhaps?