Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies - The Mother Truckers

Peanut butter meets brownies topped with chocolate - Meet the mother trucker brownies.

Weekends that go by too fast - Mother Trucker! Why do they have to end?

Real jobs - Mother Trucker! What time suck.

Two too many cocktails - Mother Trucker, bad idea.

Finding a few more gray hairs - Mother Trucker! Is this really happening?

I know it is swim suit season and all but sometimes life is just a mother trucker and calls for brownies that pack a punch.

Brownies that keep their junk in their trunk.

There are job interviews, cats that scratch perfectly nice furniture, dirty dishes, folding laundry, an obscenely fat cat that likes to lay on your chest and stare at your mouth and lick ears, bills, decisions, uncertainty, cats.

Then there are mother trucker brownies and life just seems to make sense.

Brownies that have all of life's little naughtiness including chocolate, more chocolate, peanut butter, sugar, more butter, more chocolate. 

Pretzels on brownies, mother trucking brilliant!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies (The Mother Truckers)

Adapted from Deb at Smitten Kitchen via Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007

Makes about 32 brownies, depending on how small you cut them.

For brownies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1teaspoon salt


For ganache
1 1/2 cups d chocolate chips dark
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Make brownies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle.

In a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light, white and fluffy, add peanut butter and beat until incorporated.

Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Mix in chocolate chips then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing out the thick batter.

Bake until brownies are deep golden and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache:

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat.  Pour chocolate chips into cream and let mixture stand for one minute.

Whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Brownies keep in one layer in an airtight container three days or can be stored tightly wrapped in the freezer.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

There are a few staples in our house, simple staples, trusted. Peanut butter is at the top of the list. Fresh fruit and coffee make the cut.

While living in a van for a large chunk of our post college years we became very efficient at living on little as we could, rarely anything perishable. What were our staples while sustaining on primarly dry goods? Peanut butter, bananas, coffee. Dessert? Peanut butter. Peanut butter on a spoon or smeared on Frosted Mini Wheats.

Most of this trip was spent in Mexico where meals were taco trucks, street vendors and avacados smashed over tortilla chips.We ate incredibly well without a fridge and a makeshift stove/grill.

We were climbing everyday and biking in between, it was the life, we did exactly what we wanted to do. We were active and ate anything including several jars of peanut butter a week.

It has been a couple years since climbing was a daily activity, we sold the van, real jobs have replaced endless free time. Times change, we were ready to settle down. We still have peanut butter for dessert, ride bikes, climb.

J and I have are very fortunate in many ways but I know that we are going to grow old, happy and healthy together. We know what we like to do, we both find incredible confidence, satisfaction and general well being in health and general fitness. We both strive to be better and being active is the cornerstone to our well being.

Being active means that healthy food must take precedence in our lives.  I am not about to give up some of my favorite things, I enjoy everything in moderation. When a cookie can be simple, satisfying my hunger for sweet treats without making me feel sluggish, I am eager to warm up the oven and crank out a batch to nibble on all week.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Joy the Baker

makes about two dozen cookies

1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter

1 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup roughly chopped peanuts

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter, chopped peanuts and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. Roll into walnut sized balls (1 tablespoon of dough) and flatten with your palm. If you’d like, add a few chocolate pieces to the top of the cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I could not have been more blessed with great in-laws. I am just saying - this picture explains it all...

Mama B was here for a long weekend and her other half - Bill - held down the farm back in Texas - and had a birthday!

I have been so welcomed and loved by this family that it brings me to tears just thinking about it. They are so generous, kind, Southern, and a hoot with a witty sense of humor that has been magnified in J.

Things have worked out for me. I am blessed.

Bill and the family has a tradition of big October bashes - family - friends - co workers - food - fires..... to celebrate everything in general and of course the said birthday. I have made it out a couple of times and been shown true hospitality.

This year has been busy, we relocated, J is working a big new project and the timing didn't work out. The fall is the perfect time to be in Texas because it is on the cusp of a gnarly winter and just mellowing out from a scorching summer.

Instead of a barn burner - Texas style, I made cup cakes - mini style.

Here is a birthday cup cake to a great father - in - law! Cheers!

As for the cup cakes.... yeah I admit - they do the trick, it is the whole peanut butter/chocolate combo that puts them over the top.

They really are just perfect - I recommend mini cupcakes, because they are trendy and if you are like me, I always think that having more than one is way more satisfying. When they are mini - you can have four and it is totally okay.

 

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES
Recipe adapted from Dejour

makes 24

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 2 cups cold water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.  Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla extract and vinegar.
4. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to overmix.  The mixture will be quite wet.
5. Pour the batter until the cups are two thirds full and place in the oven for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cup comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.

For the frosting:

enough for 24 cupcakes

• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• 3¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth.  Slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth and well blended.  Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy. Refrigerate for about an hour. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.