Bake it Yourself: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

It has been a real chaotic week! With a new work schedule, starting school, Christmas shopping, and volunteering at an animal shelter, I have almost zero time to cool my jets and update. In a way this is good and bad, good because I have been very busy and able to keep my mind focused on goals instead of dwelling on the past [read previous post], but bad because I feel like I’m abandoning you guys . But I am going to try and update and much as I can, just be advised that if I do seem scarce it’s because of my busy schedule.

School just started but it’s already a DREAM. I love everything about it, and am super excited to get the textbook we’ll be using, which is called On Baking. It’s true that when you really love doing something it doesn’t seem like work at all! And where else are you able to learn what you’re interested in, get fed, and take food home at the end of class? I’m in HEAVEN.

Now onto today’s recipe.. BLONDIES! Much like brownies except not at all, in that they are not made with chocolate except for the chocolate chips you put in them. Think of them more as a giant chocolate chip cookie… cake… bar. And in my version, just add a little peanut butter and you have delectable perfection. My family nearly finished them in a day so try and stop yourself from doing the same.

I’m a *big* Food Network fan, and this particular recipe comes from the wonderful Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. I like a lot of her recipes after just a bit of tweaking . You can find her original recipe here.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I like Skippy’s)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 bag (12 oz) peanut butter & chocolate chips (Nestle’s)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 x 12 x 2 inch baking pan.

Using your mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed for 3 minutes. It should look like this once done, almost like the consistency of whipped cream.
 

If you have an electric mixer going (and if you do a lot of baking like I do, you should really invest in one!), sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in the meantime.
 

Now you add in the eggs and vanilla extract. I like to crack my eggs in a separate small bowl and add them in one at a time. This is in case I ever get shells in the eggs, I can just toss it instead of ruining the whole batch. Make sure you mix everything well, scraping the sides of your bowl at least once.
 

Here comes the peanut butter twist! Add in your peanut butter and mix for about 3 minutes until you get it really creamy.
 

Once your mixture looks like this, add in the flour in a few additions until well mixed.
 

Lastly, fold in your chocolate chips. Regular chocolate would be fine, but as you can see I used the peanut butter/chocolate combo which really are yummy to add to these.
 

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, don’t overbake.
 

Once done, cut them in squares and enjoy! I’m telling you the peanut butter just makes these irresistible ~ mmm mmm mmm.

Also – these make great Christmas gifts. Last year I piled them on a platter and wrapped it in cellophane with a pretty bow for two different people; they loved it.

This week: Christmas cookies!

 
Love & Sweets,
Mel

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