Happiness is…a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownie

My focus lately has been on creating tasty cookies without cane sugar, although I do not want to slight my good friend the brownie. Brownies are also delightful treats and my mouth started to water when I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter Blondies in the September 2011 issue of Cooking Light Magazine.

To remove the cane sugar, I substituted with honey. I used a lovely organic creamy peanut butter and added peanuts for a little extra crunch. The recipe below also calls for more chocolste chips than the original, which seemed like a good idea to me. Another possibility is to crumble some peanut butter cups on top – that sounds like a good addition. I did not have a 9-inch square plan so I used a 6 x 10 inch pan and it worked out just fine. I hope you enjoy these cake-like, chewy, peanut-y, chocolate-y treats.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine flour and next 2 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Combine honey and next 5 ingredients (through eggs), stirring well. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and peanuts.
3. Scrape the batter into a 9-inch square baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging.

I am also sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Joy of Desserts, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Lady Behind the Curtain, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, Food Trip Friday and Sweet as Sugar Cookies.