Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies with Chocolate Ganache Layer

Brownies: one of my favorite treats growing up.  Cookie dough: my favorite part of baking cookies and the part of cookie dough ice cream I always eat first.  Put them together and you get the ultimate brownie.  This recipe is definitely a keeper and a winner at any dinner party.  These brownies take a little more time then regular brownies but it's pretty easy and worth it! Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

The Brownie Part:

1/2 cup butter

2 one ounce squares unsweetened chocolate

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

The Cookie Dough Part:

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ganache Layer:

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup crushed peanuts

Directions: 

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8 by 8 inch baking pan.  

Brownies: Microwave butter and unsweetened chocolate for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate and butter are completely melted and add the vanilla. Set the chocolate mixture aside. Beat the eggs and sugar and add the chocolate mixture. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.  Spread this mixture in the pan and bake until brownies are set (22-28 minutes).  Let cool for 30 minutes

Cookie Dough: add butter and sugar and mix until creamy. Add the milk and peanut butter and then stir in the flour and salt.  Mix well and spread the cookie dough over the cooled brownies.

Ganache Layer: 

Place chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Spread this over the brownies and sprinkle the crushed peanuts on top. Refrigerate until dough and ganache layer are set (for about 1 hour). 

Almond Skor Cookie Bars

These cookie bars are crunchy, soft, and chewy all at the same time.  I found this recipe while helping clean out a house in a book labelled Family Recipes for Jimmy. I'm not sure who Jimmy is but thanks for this delicious recipe!

Ingredients:

(Yields ~ 16 bars)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

4 Skor bars (coarsely chopped)

3/4 cup blanched almonds (coarsely chopped

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Coarsely chop the skor bars and almonds. An easy way to do this is by placing the skor bars and almonds in ziplock bags and break them up using a rolling pin. 

2. Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan and cool slightly.  Whisk in sugars, egg, and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients and then add candy bars, almonds, and chocolate chips.

4. Scrape batter into a lightly greased 9-inch square baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F. Let cool for 30 minutes.  

Vanilla Spring Cupcakes

Hello all,
For my first entry I decided to bake cupcakes and decorate them with spring colours. I decorated the cupcakes with a buttercream vanilla icing and food colouring. I'm not the most artistic person but the cupcakes were delicious and fun to decorate. Here is the recipe (yields ~ 20 cupcakes):

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups cake flour

2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1cup of butter (softened)

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

1 cup of butter (softened)

6 to 8 cups congectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line with paper liners or lightly grease muffin pans. In a bowl with an electric mixer, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and mix on low speed.

2. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Add in three parts to dry ingredients with electric mixer. Continue mixing until smooth.

3. Fill muffin pans with batter (about 2/3 full) and bake for 17 -20 minutes.

4. Let cool completely before icing.

Icing:

1. Cream butter with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar if necessary.

2. Add food colouring to reach desired colour.

Thanks to Jeremy for the pictures and all the help :)