Brownies!!

I don't work on the weekends. Well, I don't work at Starbucks or Home Depot. I do work at home, doing things like housecleaning or laundry. You know, the usual things. I used to work weekends. Almost every Saturday and Sunday. Then, two years ago, I had back surgery and while recovering I decided that when I went back to work it was only going to be Monday - Friday. I figured if my bosses valued me, they would take me whenever I was available. And, they did. So, I now work Monday thru Friday from 6AM to 4PM. That's at both jobs. 5 hours at Starbucks, an hour off and then 4 hours at Home Depot.

But, I digress. This post is supposed to be about brownies.

While scrolling through my Facebook feed a week or two ago, I stumbled across a link to Peanut Butter Cookie Brownies. The pictures looked amazing and I saved the link for a time when I could make them. That time was yesterday afternoon, after I finished making my Pineapple Upside-down cake.

The recipe for the brownies was actually two part. You made a brownie recipe, either a box version of your favorite brand, or in my case, a scratch recipe for brownies.

 Once that was made, I made the peanut butter cookie recipe. The recipe, that I will post at the end of this post, called for baking the brownies in a 9" pan. I wanted to surprise my Home Depot coworkers with them so I needed more than what a 9' pan would yield. I made them in a jelly roll pan.


















Anyway, aside from the different pan, I basically followed "The Little Kitchen's" recipe.

These brownies are amazing! Super chewy, moist and delicious! I used King Arthur's black cocoa powder in place of dutch processed and it gave the brownies a darker, richer depth than regular dutch cocoa would have. I used Ghirardelli  bittersweet chocolate in the brownies. It's my favorite brand of chocolate.

Give these brownies a try. I promise you won't be disappointed.

https://www.thelittlekitchen.net/peanut-butter-cookie-brownies/

Tuesdays with Dorie - Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

Lillian of Confectiona’s Realm picked Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars for this weeks recipe. Thanks, Lillian, for a great pick! I read the P&Q on TWD and saw that a lot of people dropped the raisins or skipped the peanuts, or left out both and put other things in instead. I made these just the way the recipe called for them to be made. But, then, I am boring like that. :) I usually make a recipe just the way it's written the first time around. I like to see how the author intended it to be before I change it to make it my own.

These were really a breeze to put together. Make a crust that is also a topping. Melt some chocolate chips with some butter and sweetened condensed milk, mix in some plumped raisins and some peanuts. Pour it over the crust. Crumble some of the crust over the chocolate mixture, bake it, cool it, eat it!! That is the best part!

There was nothing in this I don't like. Raisins...love em'. Peanuts...yum! Oatmeal...chewy goodness! Chocolate...oh yeah! Put all together in a bar you can just pick up and eat...delicious! Dangerous, but delicious! The hubby wasn't too happy with the raisins. I told him no one was forcing him to eat the bars. (For all his comments about not liking raisins, he ate one bar last night and another one today with his lunch!) Besides, he can eat the Black Bottom Brownies (a future post for SMS) and leave the bars to me. I won't mind!

I'm keeping my bars out on the counter. I missed the part about cooling them in the fridge before cutting them into bars. When I tried to cut them, they were a bit soft in the middle, but I got them cut. I took Dorie's suggestion and tried one before putting them in the fridge. Liked them so well at room temperature I decided to leave them out of the refrigerator.

I think it's funny that I would never add chocolate chips to my oatmeal raisin cookies, yet in these bars the combination of chocolate, oatmeal and raisins tastes wonderful. Maybe next time I make my cookies I will toss in a few chocolate chips. Oh the things TWD has opened my mind to!  See what the rest of the gang at TWD thought about this weeks choice.