Peanut Butter Blondies with Chocolate Ganache

August 2, 2010

Chocolate and peanut butter are two flavors that are meant to go together. Not that they aren’t great individually, or combined with lots of other things, but together they are something special indeed. I always like the combination, but my husband’s deep love of anything peanut butter has made me appreciate it even more. I have even been known to sprinkle a few chocolate chips on a peanut butter sandwich for a late night treat.

Last week when I needed to make a dessert to bring to a shiva house I couldn’t get the idea of peanut butter blondies out of my head. In the past the peanut butter blondies I had made were somewhat disappointing, but I knew there had to be some good recipes out there. A quick google search lead me to these blondies and knew I had a winner. With chocolate chips mixed into the batter and a chocolate ganache topping, these were the peanut butter blondies I had been thinking about. Since I like a moist, chewy blondie I substituted some of the white sugar in the original recipe for dark brown sugar and was quite happy with the results. The real secret of these blondies is not to overcook them, so it is important to start checking them before the suggested time is up.

 

Peanut Butter Blondies with Chocolate Ganache

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Yield approximately 32

For blondies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted margarine
1 cup sugar
3/4 dark brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt

For ganache
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 cup unsweetened mimiccream
1 tablespoon unsalted margarine, softened

chopped roasted peanuts for topping (optional)

Make blondies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Grease a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and grease parchment.

Beat together margarine and both sugars with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.
Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)
Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes. (Start checking early, it is important that they are not over-cooked. Mine were done in 32 minutes)

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put remaining chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Bring mimiccream to a boil in a small saucepan. This can also be done in the microwave. Pour the hot mimiccreme over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.
Gently whisk in margarine until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms. If there are still lumps of unmelted chocolate heat the mixture in 15 second intervals in a 50% power microwave, whisking after every 15 seconds until smooth and melted.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes. (If it is warm out, stick them in the fridge for a few minutes to set the ganache)

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7 Comments

  1. Meant to add this at the time – I tried these right away but unfortunately at my end they turned out a bit dry. I used coconut milk for the ganache, which was delicious, but these still weren’t anybody’s favourite. Don’t think I’ll try them again. Sorry – I usually love your recipes!

    • I’m sorry you didn’t love them. I didn’t have a problem with dryness on my end, so I’m sorry you did. I measure my flour by weight, using 4.5 oz per cup, so you could have used a bit more flour than I did which might have made them dry. I will try to make them again just to double check the recipe and get back to you.

  2. What is mimicream? If I can’t find it, can I substitute it with something else?
    I have made these dairy from the smitten kitchen website and they were AMAZING!

    • mimiccream is an all natural cream substitute made from almonds and cashews.
      If you can’t find it coconut milk would work well too.

  3. Thanks! These were awesome! I used half the amount of oil instead of margarine, and since I didn’t have any mimicream, reduced some plain soymilk in the microwave. Very good! A little rich; maybe next time I’ll levae out the ganache or the chocolate chips, or just use a little less! Thanks! keep those awesome recipes coming!

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