Peanut butter brownies and procrastinating

I’ve had a crazy few weeks. Work has been busy, I’ve been baking with renewed gusto (and trying to get the recipes posted, rather than just consume the finished product) AND trying to have a social life.

It’s like I can only have two out of three – I can either work and socialise, and leave my beloved blog to gather dust, or I can socialise and blog, and get fired from a job that I love. Neither of these options are ideal!

I need to plan my life.

I never thought I’d hear myself say that, I’m a spur of the moment kind of gal. I need to figure out how to do everything I want and still have time to shower and/or sleep.

For the moment, though, I’m eating brownies and planning my trip to Melbourne. That’s right, instead of sorting my life out, I’m planning a break. I’m a pro procrastinator!

I’ll be in Melbourne from Friday until Sunday – anyone got any suggestions for me? I definitely want to get a Doughboys Doughnut (or 5), visit H&M and drool over Zara Home products. I’d love to go to Robert Gordon’s factory outlet, but it’s a little too far from the city for me to make it – any Melbourne peeps want to drive me??

Give me your recommendations, what should I do in Melbourne this weekend?

Peanut Butter brownies:

• 180g  butter
• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 ¼ cup plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarb
• 110g dark chocolate
• ½ cup crunchy Peanut Butter

Chocolate topping:

• 90g milk chocolate, chopped
• 3 tablespoons thickened cream
• 1 ½  tbsp smooth peanut butter

Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin. I recommend lining the tin for your brownies a little bit different – cut one long rectangle so that it fits the width of the tin and flows over the two sides. The over flow will act as handles once the brownies is baked.

Cut two smaller rectangles of baking paper to cover the two remaining sides.  Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Pop your butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until dissolved. Take off the heat. Mix in the sugar and instant coffee. Mix the eggs and vanilla in a bowl at a medium speed for 30 seconds, then add ¼ of the melted chocolate and mix. Mix in the rest of the chocolate, then the cocoa, flour and bicarb.

Pop your peanut butter in the microwave for 30-40 seconds (so that it’s runny and mixes into the batter easily) and mix in. Finally, mix in the chocolate discs.

Scoop mixture into your prepared pan and flatten with a spatula. Pop into the oven for 50 minutes.

When the brownie is done, set it aside to cool for 10 minutes. While the brownie is cooling, make a start on the chocolate layer. Put the thickened cream and chocolate in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir over a low heat until the chocolate has completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir a little bit more to ensure that your cream and chocolate are fully incorporated.

Pour this chocolate over the brownie, which should have sunken (like a good brownie should) in the centre, leaving you a nice basin to fill with chocolate.

Smooth the chocolate out with a spatula and set to one side to cool.

While the chocolate is cooling, put your peanut butter in a bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds to melt it. It’s easiest if you use smooth peanut butter for this step, but I used crunchy and it worked just fine.

Give the peanut butter a stir and then scoop it into a snap lock bag. Snip the end off of the bag and pipe straight lines along the chocolate mixture. Grab a skewer or thin knife and drag it up, then down, through the peanut butter lines to give it a chevroned look.

Refrigerate for at least one hour, then slice when you’re ready to serve.