Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

February is heart health month, and we do various things in our office to raise money for the American Heart Association. We had a bake sale (oh the irony!) and I brought these peanut butter cup blondies plus some red velvet cupcakes decorated to look like roses!

I added a few drops of gel food coloring to get the pink shade of frosting. I used the 2D Wilton tip and piped from the inside out to create the rose effect. Not all of them came out as I liked, but everybody thought they were really cute and some told me they looked like a bouquet of roses.

Back to the blondies. When I first saw this recipe, I didn't think this recipe is in any way light. Come on, peanut butter cups, butter, eggs, and sugar? Then I looked and it was cut into 20 pieces. Well, if you eat an square inch blondie full of fat, I guess it's light? The picture on the site is really deceiving and it looks like it's a giant blondie.

I read the rave reviews, and most mentioned they had to bake for a lot longer, but they didn't mention how much longer. I played it by ear and tested it every few minutes. The batter seemed to come out clean at 23 minutes. When I cut into it, there were still a slight bit that was undercooked, but that's totally fine with me. If you need it cooked a little longer, by all means, go ahead.

To be more realistic, I cut this into 12 pieces, 16 would have worked too if I was sharing with my family. I brought it to the bake sale and it was the first to go within the first half hour of the sale. That has to say something right? Try this, you won't regret it!

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Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Cooking Light




ingredients:

• 5 3/5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 TBSP milk (whatever you have on hand, I used soy)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 15 mini peanut butter cups, chopped

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray an 8x8 metal baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of your mixer. Stir to combine.
3. In a separate medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then whisk in the peanut butter, butter, milk and extract. Add to the dry ingredients.
4. Beat the ingredients until just combined, then stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into baking pan then use a spatula to spread evenly. Place the chopped peanut butter cups on top and press down.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. You may want to try a different section if peanut butter/chocolate comes up instead.
7. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12-16 pieces or however big you want them.

Yield: 12-16 servings

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