Jeffrey R. Esser

The first time I made these, I double the recipe and when it came out the center was still goopy and not set.  I took them into work anyway and they were a huge hit!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup chuncky peanut butter
• 1 ¼ brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¾ all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, cut into chunks

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350º and make sure the top rack is in the center of the oven.  Line an 8″ by 8″ baking pan with aluminum foil.  Use ¼ of the stick of butter to coat the foil with butter using your fingers.
2. Put ¾ of the stick of butter into the bowl of a stand mixture, and beat it for about two minutes on medium speed, so that it’s fluffy.  Add the peanut butter and blend well then add the brown sugar and mix it in throughly.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well after each one.  You may need to scrape down the bowl.  Then add the vanilla and mix it in throughly.
4. In a bowl, sift together the flour, the baking powder and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture in two steps, mixing well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Finally, mix in the chocolate chunks by hand to make sure it is even throughout the batter.
5. Transfer the batter into the baking dish and bake for 35-38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the dish comes out with only a few crumbs clinging.
6. Extract the blondies for the pan by the aluminum foil and let them cool on a rack until they are ready to cut.