Baking Redemption

I liked Carrie's thoughts earlier this week on not letting a bad stove (or oven, in my case) get you down! (Hope that everyone saw Lizzie's comment on the Lime Yogurt cake... looks like I will have to give it another try soon!)

With that in mind, we headed over to my sister-in-law's last night to watch the Saints game... and to enjoy her husband's amazing homemade pizzas.  Seriously, some of the best pizza I've ever had!  We had BBQ chicken and supreme pizzas on Trader Joe's whole wheat crust, along with a delicious fresh salad from my mother-in-law (topped with fresh strawberries, gorgonzola cheese & almonds).

For dessert, I brought Jen's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars, which were served with homemade vanilla ice cream... heaven!  I couldn't be happier with the way these turned out!  Personally, the chocolate/peanut butter dessert combination is my favorite (or possibly tied with warm fruit cobbler... sorry, getting distracted by dessert talk here).

The original recipe (as shown below) is the perfect amount to serve to a dinner-party-sized group without being stuck with tons of leftovers.  Or you could double it for a crowd!

Sarah also made these on our recent beach weekend, using M&M's instead of chocolate chips.  I decided to split the difference and sub in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup M&M's... and I may have thrown in an extra handful of each for good measure!  I really enjoyed the mix here.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup natural chunky peanut butter, salted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I substituted 1/2 cup chocolate chips & 1/2 cup M&M's here)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8 x 8 pan.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the sugars until mixture is lightened in color and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition and then add vanilla. Reduce mixer to low speed and slowly add in the flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips and M&M's, stirring until combined.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!