Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

I was craving chocolate and I remembered this recipe that I found on Pinterest, via my blog pal Grace. When I was getting ready to bake, I decided I was too lazy to look up the pin, so I pulled out my normal brownie recipe, which is always at hand. The recipe I usually reference is from a bag of King Arthur flour. The recipe is called The Best Fudge Brownies Ever. What I made falls at the awkward, three-way intersection of the Pinterest recipe, the King Arthur recipe, and veganism. The result, however, is anything but awkward. Here it is:

Vegan Mother Hubbard Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
1/2 cup vegan butter
3/4 cup peanut butter, divided
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease muffin tins (for 24 muffins). Do not use muffin papers. Melt butter. I used a large, metal bowl and put it right in the oven to melt the butter while the oven was preheating. When the butter is melted, add 1/4 cup of the peanut butter and whisk together. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and whisk again, to combine. Mix in the salt, baking powder, vanilla, yogurt and corn syrup. Then add in the flour and 1 cup of chocolate chips. You may need to switch from a whisk to a wooden spoon to mix in the flour. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter into each of the muffin cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Just before the brownies come out of the oven, microwave the additional 1/2 cup of peanut butter for 45-60 seconds, so it is soft enough to drizzle. Take the baked brownies out of the oven and immediately tap the center of each, with a spoon, to collapse them. While still hot, place 3-4 chocolate chips in the center of each brownie, then top with melted peanut butter. Cool completely before serving. Makes 24 brownies.

I will not tell you that these brownies are good for you. They really aren't. However, they're better for you than many brownie recipes, including the ones that I adapted. Compared to the King Arthur recipe, these brownies have 1/4 cup less butter, 1/2 cup less sugar and 1/2 cup fewer chocolate chips. There is no cholesterol and the yogurt, which replaces the eggs, has much less fat and calories than the eggs. There is whole wheat flour, rather than white flour, which provides fiber; and there is the protein added by the peanut butter. So you can feel a little bit better about serving these brownies to your family. And I hope you do serve them to your family. Enjoy! Steve did:

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