Recipe: Chocolate Brownies with a Peanut Butter Swirl

Anyone looking for some comfort food in these weird times? I made these chocolate brownies with a peanut butter swirl about two weeks ago and they definitely comforted me. There’s something about baking brownies that always calms me down. They’re so easy to make and so delicious. Can anything beat a brownie, really?

These were also the last baked goodies I made before my flour ran out. Our supermarket is pretty well-stocked and there hasn’t really been anything that I haven’t been able to find these past few weeks – except for flour. Apparently, lots of people want to bake stuff all of a sudden. Luckily, I do have some self-raising flour left, so hopefully I can whip up some more comfort bakes soon. Although, I do hope I can soon get my hands on some plain flour again.

Anyway, back to the brownies. If you’re looking for some plain brownies, you can just leave the peanut butter swirl out, but if you want that peanut butter kick, this recipe will work great for you.

I hope everyone’s safe and healthy! Wash your hands, stay inside and try to find some fun and relaxing things to do in this stressful time. Baking definitely always helps me!

You’ll need… (for 16 to 20 brownies)

For the brownies

• 120 g butter, melted
• 160 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 70 g plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 200 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

For the swirl

• 100 g peanut butter
• optional ½ teaspoon vanilla

The rest

• baking tin (mine is 20 x 24 cm)
• and an oven, of course! These brownies need to be baked at 150 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking

1. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie Place a pot of water on the stove and make sure the water is hot but not boiling. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the pot and put your chocolate in that bowl. The chocolate will start to melt without there being any risk of it burning. Just make sure none of the water gets in with the chocolate.

2. Mix together butter and sugar While the chocolate is melting, get on with these next steps. Melt the butter in the microwave and then mix it together with your sugar in a large bowl, using a whisk.

3. Add the eggs and then the flour and salt Once your butter and sugar are mixed, add in the eggs one by one, whisking one egg through before adding the next. Once the eggs are mixed in, add the flour and salt and whisk that through as well.

4. Add the chocolate Make sure your chocolate has melted completely and then take the bowl off the stove. Leave the chocolate to cool for just a few minutes so the hot chocolate doesn’t scramble the eggs. Then, pour the chocolate in with your mixture (this is the most satisfying step – apart from the eating) and mix it through with your whisk.

5. Transfer batter to tin Grease and flour your tin, or line it with parchment paper, and then pour in the brownie batter. Make sure you divide it evenly over the tin.

6. Prepare peanut butter swirl Take a small bowl and mix together the peanut butter and the vanilla. If you’re not using the vanilla, make sure to loosen up the peanut butter with a whisk or fork anyway.

7. Create the peanut butter swirl Now, let’s make the swirl! Using a spoon, drop blobs (yes, that’s the technical term) of the peanut butter mixture on top of the brownie batter in your tin. Make sure to spread out the placing of the blobs and get some everywhere. Then, using a knife or a skewer, create the swirl. Stick the knife into the batter and drag it along the length of the tin. Once you get to the other side of the tin, pull it back again, but a little bit to the side. You’ll see the nice swirling pattern will start to appear.

8. Bake! Once the swirl is done, put the tin in the oven and bake the brownies for about 25 minutes (or until a skewer comes out nearly clean) at 150 °C. When they’re done, take the tin out of the oven and let the brownies cool for a while before cutting them into however many pieces you like.

And that’s it! You’ve got your own chocolate brownies with a peanut butter swirl – the perfect comfort food. Enjoy!