In my kitchen this past week I’ve managed to burn my Thanksgiving brussels sprouts, make a bum batch of chocolate brownies, crack my favorite coffee mug and somehow spill a half bottle of red wine under…UNDER my refrigerator.  Additionally, since my kitchen seems to be a vortex of ill fate, I’ve refused to do the dishes.  It wasn’t a pretty sight, friends.  I was just about due for an intervention.  

I was just about ready to throw a stick of dynamite into my kitchen and hope for the best.  Instead I opted for one last shot… mostly because sticks of dynamite like the ones they have in cartoons are hard to find… maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places… whatever the case,  I preheated the oven, kept my head down, and… success!  Sweet, dense, chocolate and peanut butter success.  

This dark kitchen cloud seems to have passed, and I’ve managed to get all of my dishes in the dishwasher…. things are looking up and tasting pretty darn good too. 

These peanut butter blondies are serious.  The blondie is dense and packed with brown sugar and peanut butter flavor.  The chocolate frosting is the perfect compliment, although if you simply wanted to add chocolate chips or broken up Reese’s Peanut Butter cups to the blondie batter, that would be just as delicious.  I think frosting on brownies is the ultimate indulgence…. so why not go for it.  Be warned… you’ll need milk to drink with these.  Lots of milk.

Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting

     makes one dozen big brownies in a 9×13-inch pan

     Print this Recipe!

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 cubes

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup smooth and natural peanut butter

 2 eggs

2  teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 9×13-inch pan, line with parchment paper if you have it on hand, then grease the parchment paper.  If you don’t have parchment paper, these blondies will be just fine. 

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar together until the butter is just melted.  Remove from the burner and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the peanut butter.  Stir until incorporated.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes more, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.  You want the sugar, butter and peanut butter mixture to be cool enough that the eggs won’t begin to cook when they’re added in.  

Whisk together salt, flour and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients.  Stir until just incorporated.  Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan and smooth out.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.  

Milk Chocolate Frosting

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder and salt.  Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar followed by 1 tablespoon milk.  Beat well.  Add another cup of powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of milk.  Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler.  Add melted and slightly cooked milk chocolate the frosting and beat to incorporate.  Add the final 1/2 cup of powdered sugar if you need a bit more thickness.  Spread evenly over peanut butter blondies.

Settle in friends. You might be here a while. Come and experience the better part of 48 hours behind the camera with Joy the Baker in San Francisco.

From the Oakland Bart Station to the streets of San Francisco and back again. It’s a whirl wind trip. Hold my hand and play along.

Have you met my sister? This is Lauren. She is my San Francisco connection, and incidentally, one of my reasons for living. She’s carrying my bag, leading the way to breakfast at Citizen Cake.

Puppies and people living the good life outside of Citizen Cake on a flawless San Francisco day.

Sitting at the bar, doing it up omelet style.

I came up to San Francisco for a few reasons. My sister was having a Halloween party and insisted that I make an appearance, I love love love San Francisco, and I wanted to met up with my Foodproof friends.

Of course no party that I attend would be complete without some sort of baked yummy. For this reason, Lauren and I made Candy Bar Blondies. These beauties are the best way to consolidate and enjoy all your favorite Halloween candy. It’s just the most practical Halloween option, right!?

Candy Bar Blondies

adapted from Gourmet

Print this recipe!

2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of your favorite candy bars, roughly chopped (We used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Heath Bar, and Peanut Butter M&M’s)

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 13- by 9-inch baking pan.

Melt butter in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in brown sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt, then whisk into butter mixture. Stir in candy pieces reserving 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top.

Spread in pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup candy. Bake until a pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

What’s this? A box of Jello? This particular box of Jello had a Jello Shot recipe printed on the back. How convenient! Trust me when I tell you that I’m simply too old for Jello Shots. Just take my word for it.

These are the neighbors we’re going to keep awake until all hours of the night with my sister’s party. As stated earlier, I’m too old for Jello Shots.

I am, however, not too old for good, clean pumpkin carving.

This fiendish smile is a sure sign of an impending party. Caution. Party. Big, crazy party.

And this is where the party began and the nights pictures ended. I’ll spare you the madness. Combine these images in your head and you’ll have an idea of how the party went: Pabst Blue Ribbon, movie projector, cute Michael Phelps, drunk Jenga, cowboy and cowgirl friends, pass the guerrilla suit, turn down the Michael Jackson or you’re going to be evicted. Where are my glasses? Seriously, where are my glasses?

Got it?

So yea. It was a good night.

The next day’s adventures took me across the bay to Oakland. Time to get my Foodproof on. I’ve mentioned Foodproof before, but allow me to do it again with more ferocity.

Meet Mitch. Mitch is one of the minds behind Foodproof, a really fun, super intuitive, easy to enjoy, new food site. Here’s Mitch videotaping (yes, that’s a tiny camera) Simon outside of an Oakland cafe.

Say hello to Simon. He’s on the other end of Mitch’s camera. Together, Mitch and Simon are Taste Buds- hilarious friends who eat and talk about it on camera. They’re relaxed, they’re fun, they’re unintentionally hilarious. Check out One Day’s Eating with Simon. There’s a kitty and a cookie… and I’ll leave you with that.

If you don’t yet support Foodproof, what are you waiting for!?

This concludes this installment of 48 hours behind the camera with Joy the Baker. I’m living the good life. Thanks for being a part of it. Really, thanks.

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