Kitchen Adventures 4.3

Normally, I am not one to experiment with recipes. As many people can attest, I rarely deviate from a recipe and it's specific directions unless I really don't like an ingredient. However, while walking home from work Wednesday and thinking about what to make for small group snack, I suddenly felt the urge to experiment. I wanted to make chocolate peanut butter brownies--I felt regular brownies were just not quite the order for the evening. I looked for several different recipes online before finally deciding to just make my own and see what happened. Fortunately, this experiment turned out well. I simply added some melted peanut butter to my brownie mixture and called it good, and it was a huge hit. Yay for experiments that turn out well!
The original brownie recipe is from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook

Cake Brownies (with peanut butter addition)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. milk, plus additional for peanut butter mixture
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan (or a 15x10x1 pan) and set aside. In a large microwaveable bowl, microwave butter on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder until combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, beat mixture lightly just until combined.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Alternately add flour mixture and 1 c. milk to chocolate mixture, beating after each addition. Stir in nuts if desired.
3. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. *Addition: melt peanut butter with several T. of milk in small pan over medium-low heat just until creamy. Pour over brownie batter in pan and swirl with spoon.
4. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 2 hours. Cut into bars.

Apologies for the dark picture, it's all I have.