These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Hello Sweets,

Well we made it to the weekend, and it is already almost over :(  I hope you all had a super productive week and hopefully you are treating yourself for working so hard.  I finally got my hair cut yesterday :D, and I am even going back to Yelp (who helped me find the hairdresser) to write her a fantastic review.  My hair is now healthy, light, and manageable once again, and she even gave me some romantic soft curls which I am loving!!

I'm sorry I didn't get this post out last night but sometimes things don't always go according to plan, but I didn't want to keep this gem from you any longer (pain or not).  I have known for a long time that I'm not like most people, actually I am very unique and sometimes even weird lol Nathan can confirm all of this.  Well when I was little, one specific eating habit confirmed this every year, actually a few different times a year lol.  How many of you like chocolate?  How many of you love chocolate?  Most people do, and when you get it as a gift you're pretty excited right? lol  Well I have never been too thrilled upon opening (I know I know, it's the thought that counts).  Now my family learned very quickly that if they wanted to get me chocolate that it should be white or I wouldn't eat it, but still many times my mom would forget and I would end up with plain milk chocolate.  After years of throwing it away it dawned on me, why was I not eating this chocolate in the same sense of the chocolate bars that I buy?  So the next Christmas and Easter I received more plain chocolate, I then marched into the kitchen and grabbed the peanut butter out of cupboard and started dunking the chocolate.  Lol I know this will seem weird to some and gross to others, but for a peanut butter lover such as myself it was the perfect solution and I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out.

So it's probably fairly obvious what my favorite chocolate bar is (although it's cups not a bar), Reese's Peanut Butter cups.  I've made chocolate peanut butter squares before and they are quite delicious, but as soon as I saw this recipe (although I am not sure where I saw it :/ sorry) I had to make it because it looked to die for.  So let's not waste any more time and get a little "nutty" in the kitchen lol (see what I did there).

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients

3/4C sugar

1/4C butter, softened

1 Tbs water

1C semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 1/2C for garnish

1 large egg

1/2tsp vanilla

1C all-purpose flour

1/4tsp baking soda

3/4C milk chocolate chips, plus 1/3C for garnish

3/4C creamy peanut butter

only the best chocolate for my man ;)

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray or grease 12C muffin tin.  In a medium microwave safe bowl, combine the sugar, butter, and water.  Microwave on high for about 45 seconds or until the butter is melted.

2)  Stir in 3/4C of the semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted.  Stir in egg and vanilla, mix well.

3)  Add the flour and baking soda, mix well but do not over mix the batter.

4)  Allow the batter to cool to room temperature (this won't take very long, maybe a few minutes), then stir in 3/4C of the milk chocolate chips and remaining 1/4C of the semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Spoon batter evenly into the muffin cups.

5)  Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly wet.  After the brownies are out of the oven wait for the centers to fall, this will happen upon calling (if not tap the center with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole for the peanut butter).

 left is from straight out of the oven, right is the brownies centers fallen

6)  Place the peanut butter in a small microwavable bowl, microwaving on high for 45 seconds then stir.  While brownies are still warm spoon about a teaspoon full of peanut butter into the center of each brownie.  Top with the remaining chocolate chips (I combined them into a single bowl and sprinkled a combination on each "cup").  Let cool completely in the pan.

There you have it, a very yummy but not too healthy lol treat that anyone will enjoy.  Nathan isn't much of a fan for the peanut butter chocolate combination, but he definitely enjoyed this little cup of goodness.  Here is some up close pictures so your eyes can convince you if the sheer description hasn't convinced you yet :)

Don't they look yummy!

So there is the sweet treat for tonight, tomorrow I'll be creating both something old (but with some new twists), and something very new (as in never tried anything like it).  One will be sweet and the other savory, so you must come back to see the surprises.  My single hint to you is; it's both the most important and best meal of the day ;)   Until next time..................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo