Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Brownies

If you've been around - oh, a week or two - on this blog, you'll know that I have great affection for the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. And I'm certainly not alone in this love. No, there are many out there who extoll the gift that is this classic pairing (I'm told there is even a candy bar) - and to them I give this gift: Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Brownies.

There's nothing high class, fussy or fancy about these. It is a fudgy chewy brownie topped with a layer of creamy peanut butter and capped off with a satisfying slick of pure chocolate. In a word: heaven.

If you have a large bowl, a whisk (and a microwave would help), you can make these. I suppose an oven comes in handy too. But no special ingredients, no fancy tools (who needs that Kitchenaid mixer, just good old-fashioned chocolate and peanut butter (and a little flour and sugar). 

Recipe: 
Brownies -
150g semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs plus one egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

175g semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped OR 1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl melt the chocolate and butter together until completely combined.
Add in the coffee and sugars and whisk until all incorporated.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition until fully mixed. Stir in the vanilla.
Add in the flour, salt and cocoa powder and fold in until just incorporated, do not overmix.
Pour the batter into a greased 9x13" pan - it is a fairly thin layer.
Bake on 350 F for 18-24 minutes or until tests done - be careful not to overbake.
Let cool for at least 20 minutes.
Mix together the peanut butter and sugar, and heat it until looser and more spreadable.
Spread the mixture evenly on top of the brownies.
Chill the brownies at least 30 minutes until cool to the touch.
Melt the chocolate and carefully spread over the peanut butter. Let set, then cut and enjoy!