Homemade peanut butter and chocolate brownies

Before I start talking about these brownies, let me toot my own horn for a bit, because if I don’t do it, who will?? If you’re not following me on social media you probably won’t know this; I was the featured instagrammer on the first issue of National Geographic Traveller Food magazine (UK edition), with a small interview and a few of my photographs. I am so honored, thrilled and excited to be included in such an iconic publication, that I really can’t describe it with words. I should probably attach a photo of my huge smile here instead, but I won’t.

Now let’s talk brownies and the flavor combination of chocolate and peanut butter, which once upon a time I really disliked. I was never a snickers bar person, I always went for the mars, bounty or twix instead. A couple of years ago though, I made chocolate brownies with homemade peanut butter and suddenly I was hooked. I don’t know what it was. Perhaps the real flavor of the homemade peanut butter, the pure, dark chocolate, the flaked sea salt I added to them, the whole peanuts in the batter? Possibly. Or maybe it was just the fact that growing older means your tastes change and I’m good with that. Whichever was the reason I changed my mind about this combination, I’ll take it, because now I get to thoroughly enjoy one of my favorite kind of brownie.

As I have mentioned to you before, I make my own peanut butter, the recipe for which I shared with you a little while ago, hinting that I was going to share these brownies too. Well, the time is now and at the risk of sounding too confident, I have to say, they are in-cre-di-ble! These are for me the best peanut butter and chocolate brownies you can make and they are chocolaty and peanut-y in the purest sense.

There’s two mixtures in these brownies that marry wonderfully together. One is the dark chocolate brownie mixture in which I added chopped peanuts, and the other is the peanut butter mixture to which I added chopped dark chocolate.

They’re dense and fudgy, moist and a little chewy, with a crispy top and a crunchy texture coming from the chopped peanuts inside, and an intense peanut and deep chocolate flavor. They’re like the best snickers bar, but without the cloying sweetness as they’re not too sweet. When warm, they’re soft, melty and moist, and these are the only brownies I prefer eating warm rather than cold. I don’t know exactly why that is and, don’t get me wrong, I would never turn down a cold brownie, but the flavors and textures are so much better and more distinct to me when warm.

Their nuttiness, fudginess and sweetness is perfectly balanced and they are fantastic dipped into coffee or a glass of cold milk, or simply enjoyed on their own as the best cure for all sweet cravings.

Homemade peanut butter and chocolate brownies

The homemade peanut butter with the pure flavor of the nut without being too sweet or salty or having an overly oily texture, is possibly the best part of the brownie. If you don’t want to make your own peanut butter (which, incidentally, is ridiculously easy to make), make sure to use natural peanut butter, not the highly processed one. It’s not about being healthy, I’m neither a nutritionist nor a doctor and I believe that everyone is and should feel free to eat whatever they find is good for them, it’s just that the texture and flavor is different and, having tried them with the highly processed kind of peanut butter as well, the result is not what I want it to be.

Yield: 25 small brownies

Ingredients

for the chocolate brownie mixture
115 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
85 g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
230 g granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp sea salt flakes (I use Maldon)
85 g all-purpose flour
50 g raw, unsalted peanuts (you can toast them if you wish), roughly chopped

for the peanut butter mixture
190 g homemade peanut butter (or store-bought natural peanut butter - see note above)
130 g granulated white sugar
1 large egg
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
⅛ tsp sea salt flakes (I use Maldon)
50 g good quality dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids), finely chopped

Special equipment: 20 x 20 cm baking pan, baking paper, wire whisk, stiff rubber spatula


Preparation
Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and line with a piece of baking paper.
Preheat your oven to 175°C.

for the chocolate brownie mixture
Place the butter and the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain marie) and melt, stirring often. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and set aside to cool slightly. Then add the sugar and using a wire whisk, whisk well to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition to incorporate them fully. Then add the vanilla and salt, and whisk to combine. Add the flour and stir it in with a spatula until the mixture is smooth and there are no white streaks from the flour visible. Finally, add the chopped peanuts and mix them through the batter with the spatula.

for the peanut butter mixture
Add all the ingredients for the peanut butter mixture, except for the chocolate, in a medium bowl and beat vigorously with a stiff spatula to combine. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

Empty ⅓ of the chocolate brownie mixture on the bottom of the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Add ½ of the peanut butter mixture on top and spread it. This mixture will be somewhat stiff so it’s okay if it doesn’t spread smoothly or evenly. Add another ⅓ of the chocolate brownie mixture on top and spread evenly. Then add the rest of the peanut butter mixture and spread. Top with the remaining chocolate brownie mixture and spread evenly.

Bake on the low rack of the preheated oven for 25 minutes, then transfer to the middle rack and bake for approximately 10 minutes more, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with crumbs attached. Be careful not to overbake as you don’t want to end up with dry brownies, but moist and fudgy. You can start checking for doneness at the 30 minute mark to be on the safe side, since not all ovens are the same.

Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then using the overhanging baking paper take the brownies out of the pan and leave on the wire rack until completely cool. (Or, if you are like me, eat while still warm). Then slice into 25 small squares using a long and thin knife.

They keep excellently for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container, or for a week in the fridge. I prefer eating them warm. You can reheat a square in the microwave before you eat it or if you’re the cold-brownie type, keep them in the fridge.

• Adapted from smitten kitchen

Raw brownies

Raw brownies; because sometimes you don’t have time to turn the oven on, regardless of the fact that it would have been a very welcomed heat source.

Because you want something healthier and more nutritious than your regular brownie. Something that’s guilt free and less sweet without, however, missing out on great flavor and texture, because these raw brownies have both.

Made with Medjool dates that have an intense caramel flavor and a soft and fudgy texture, with all sorts of nuts —almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts—, with cacao powder, but can be made with regular Dutch-processed cocoa powder as well, a hint of espresso and some maple syrup for added sweetness.

They’re intensely nutty, with a rich date and cocoa flavor and they’re not too sweet, with a lovely balance of acidity and bitterness coming from the cacao and espresso powder. They’re fudgy, soft and crunchy at the same time, and I know this is going to sound very weird to you, but their flavor reminds me of nutella, only without the cloying sweetness.

There’s a harmony of flavors in these raw, no-bake brownies and they are perfect for those of you who appreciate the distinct flavors of each ingredient rather than eating something that’s overly sweet.

Enjoy them in the morning as a quick pick-me-up, with your afternoon coffee or as a late-night sweet treat to cure those dangerous, for some of us, cravings.

Raw brownies

These brownies are just two-bites each. You can certainly make them bigger if you want.

I use Medjool dates because they’re soft and jammy with a caramel flavor. I wouldn’t suggest you use another kind but if you can’t find them, and the sort of dates you use are too dry, soak them for a while in some freshly squeezed orange juice to soften them up.

Yield: 20 small brownies

Ingredients
70 g almonds with skin on
45 g walnut halves
30 g raw cacao powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting over the top of the brownies
Pinch of ground espresso beans (or instant espresso powder)
Pinch of sea salt
160 g Medjool dates (weight with pits), pitted
1½ Tbsp good-quality maple syrup
20 g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Special equipment: large food processor, round spring-form pan (15 cm in diameter), baking paper, plastic wrap


Preparation
In the bowl of your food processor, add the almonds and walnuts and grind them finely. Then add the cacao powder, espresso and salt, and process briefly to combine. Transfer the mixture into a clean bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, now add the pitted dates and the maple syrup and process until you have a sticky ball. Remove the mixture from the food processor using a spatula and place it into another clean bowl.

Return the cacao-nuts mixture into the bowl of your food processor and with the motor running, add small handfuls of the date mixture through the food tube (hole at the top of the lid), and process until you have thick and moist crumbs, and the brownie mixture holds together when pressed in your hand.

Empty the brownie mixture into a bowl, add the chopped hazelnuts and mix with a spatula to combine and evenly distribute the nuts in the mixture.

Place a piece of baking paper at the bottom of the pan (then add the sides of the pan and lock it) and empty the brownie mixture inside. Press it with your hands to flatten it and even it out. It should be firm. You can either leave it as a round, or do as I did and remove it from the pan and shape it into a square. You can do this by pressing the sides with your hands, touching the baking paper rather than the brownie mixture so it doesn’t soften. Make sure to gently flatten the top too, as the brownie mixture will be slightly pushed up during shaping. Mine turned out as a square of 14x14 cm and with a 2 cm thickness.

Once shaped, fold over it the baking paper and then tightly cover it with a large piece of plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
Then, take the plastic wrap off and cut into 20 square pieces (2 bites each), making sure that it is very firm before you do so.

If you plan to eat it straight away, dust the top with cacao powder and serve. Otherwise, dust with cacao powder when you are ready to serve it.

You can keep it in the fridge, covered well with baking paper and wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, or in an airtight container, for at least 2 weeks.
You can also keep it in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Chocolate chestnut brownies

A little while ago, I made these brownies for the first time. I love chestnuts and I tend to use them in savory and sweet dishes regularly, especially during the autumn and winter months, but never had I used them before in brownies. It was a revelation.

Chestnut and chocolate is, unsurprisingly, a match made in heaven, and these brownies are a shining example of this match. They are fudgy and dense yet soft and light. They have the full, intense flavor of dark chocolate and cocoa powder, with the sweet earthiness and nutty flavor of the chestnut and the salty kick of sea salt flakes that brings all the flavors to life, balancing the sweetness of it all.

The swirls of chestnut cream, soft and gooey, peaking out from the fudgy, dense brownies or hiding inside them, revealing themselves with each bite, create a flavor and texture contrast that I love.

Ordinarily, I don’t prefer the edges of brownies but the center pieces; with these brownies, though, where the chestnut cream meets the edges of the brownie and it becomes deliciously chewy, it makes those edges utterly irresistible to me. Perhaps this will happen to you to. Let me know if you do make them.

And if you’re in the mood for more sweet and savory recipes with chestnuts, check out these:
Sweet chestnut cream (Crème de marrons)
Chocolate and chestnut truffles
Chestnut cream truffles
Chestnut tiramisu
Chestnut ice cream
Chestnut soup with Port
Chestnut crêpes with creamy wild mushroom filling

Chocolate chestnut brownies

No need to bring out a mixer, this is all done by hand, albeit it needs some elbow grease to achieve a smooth batter. So if you’re having trouble handling it by hand, use an electric hand-held mixer but don’t overbeat the eggs and the rest of ingredients as you don’t want to incorporate too much air into the batter. We’re going for fudgy texture, not light and airy.

I’ve made these brownies with both homemade sweet chestnut cream and ready-made, and I have to say that I like both versions. The homemade chestnut spread is somewhat more creamy and smooth and less dense/sticky than the commercial one. If you choose to use ready-made sweet chestnut spread, make sure to use good quality because it will make a difference.

*Don’t use chestnut purée instead of chestnut cream because they are different both in flavor and texture. Chestnut cream or crème de marrons is puréed chestnuts with sugar and vanilla, it is sweet and has (obviously) a creamy texture, whereas chestnut purée is cooked and then puréed chestnuts, it is unsweetened and has a very thick and dense texture.

Yield: 16 brownies

Ingredients
115 g unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing the pan
170 g good quality dark chocolate (55-60% cocoa solids), cut into small pieces
25 g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3 large eggs
200 g caster sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
140 g all-purpose flour
300 g sweet chestnut cream/spread (not unsweetened chestnut purée, *read more about this above), homemade or store-bought
Sea salt flakes for sprinkling on top (I use Maldon)

Special equipment: 20 x 20 cm baking pan, baking paper, large wire whisk


Preparation
Preheat your oven to 175°C.

Butter the bottom and sides of the pan and line with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides.

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the butter and melt over a medium-low heat, stirring often with a whisk. Once melted, add the chocolate and stir continuously until it melts. Take the pan off the heat, add the cocoa powder and whisk until incorporated and you have a smooth mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking vigorously until you have a smooth and shiny mixture before adding the next egg. Then add the sugar, the vanilla and a pinch of sea salt and whisk vigorously again to combine. Finally, add the flour and whisk just until incorporated and there are no visible white patches from the flour.

Pour half of the brownie mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out. Add 1/3 of the chestnut spread in dollops on top of the brownie mixture and using a skewer or the handle of a spoon, marble it gently. Pour the rest of the brownie mixture on top, smooth it out and, finally, dollop the rest of the chestnut spread on top of the brownie mixture. Again, marble it gently. Don’t overdo it as you want to have patches of chestnut spread in your brownies. Sprinkle the top with 3 good pinches of flaked sea salt, rubbing it between your fingertips to make it a little finer as you sprinkle it.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake the brownies for about 30 minutes. The center of the brownies should feel just slightly firm.

Take the pan out of the oven and place on a wire rack. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, then using the overhanging baking paper take the brownies out of the pan and leave on the wire rack until completely cool. Then slice into 16 squares using a long and thin knife.

They keep excellently for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container, or for a week in the fridge. I prefer to keep them in fridge as I like their taste better when they’re cold.