Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone has some seriously awesome plans because I don't really. At least, not of the barbecue and fireworks variety {that is what people do these days, right??} We have plans to go to the mall though, which is frankly quite the treat these days. We may or may not stop at Shake Shack for some of those awesome shack dogs that they put out on Memorial Day and July 4th.
Actually, that would totally count as a seriously awesome plan. I am so excited for those corn dogs. I am even willing to pledge myself to healthy foods for one whole week after the I consume a healthy {not healthy} dose of the shack dogs. One whole week. I mean it!
As a general homage to the USA, I made brownies. They are not dyed red white and blue, and there are no stars or stripes on them. But they're an all-american dessert as far as I'm concerned, even more so than apple pie or some other pie. The thing is, when I first moved to America, I had never consumed a single brownie in my life. I was 11, so that's actually a damn long time to go without a single brownie. On my first day home from school {brand new school!} my mom bought a container of those two bite brownies you can get at the supermarket, and my sister and I ate it by spreading nutella on it. It was great. Brownies became the dessert I associated with America {I had a similar experience with frozen bake-at-home pizzas, which I also associate with America hah!}. Nowadays I don't even eat brownies anymore, because their delicious/guilt ratio is sort of wayyy tipped over to the guilt end and if I were going to consume that amount of butter I'd rather it come in the form of mac and cheese {have I ever mentioned how I'm not huge on desserts in general??}. I made an exception for this week - I know I'll be seeing enough people to give them all away before I manage to eat half the pan by myself in one sitting.
P.S. it's probably becoming confusing why I didn't just bake two bite brownies. I made it once four years ago and I failed miserably okay?? I'm fairly traumatized by that experience and don't think I shall ever attempt it again...
Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies in a Skillet
10-inch pan
What you need:
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/3 cup nutella
How to do it:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter one 10-inch skillet. It's fine to skip the buttering if using a very well seasons cast iron skillet.
- Sift together AP flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- In a microwaveable bowl, melt 1/2 cup butter but make sure it's not too hot. Beat in 3/4 cup sugar until creamy, and then add in eggs in one at a time.
- Add the dry mix into the wet and beat until well incorporated. Pour into the buttered skillet.
- In another microwaveable bowl, melt peanut butter and nutella. Pour the mixture on top of the brown mixture but don't mix.
- Use a fork to gently swirl the nutella and peanut butter around until it creates a nice marbled surface. It is fine to incorporate the nutella and peanut butter into the brownie batter a little.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 25min, until the brownies are baked through and the top forms a crust. Let cook for about 10min before slicing in.