Hershey's Strikes Again...

I recently took a weekend trip up to visit one of my closest friends in Cleveland. My boyfriend met me in Cleveland, and it ended up being a wonderful trip. It was full of fun foodie adventures, like visiting the West Side Market and taking a brewery tour of Great Lakes Brewing Company. We also ate at a Michael Symon Restaurant, Lola. It was truly amazing, and I cannot understate the taste-bud-magic that happened when I tasted the Crispy Pig Ear from the appetizer menu. It really is one of the tastiest treats I have ever eaten.

While packing for the trip, I had the brilliant idea to bake some brownies to share with my friends. I didn't want to make an everyday brownie, and I had to work with the items I already had in my pantry. Inspiration struck when I puttered around in my basement and discovered a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips languishing away. I decided to let those chips be my guide and use a recipe I found on the back of the bag for Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies. They are more like a blondie or a bar cookie to me, but regardless, they are delicious. My friend and her boyfriend were very happy with their large bag of brownies, and my boyfriend was very sad that I only saved him a small sandwich bag. If you enjoy Reese's Pieces, you will like these brownies!

This picture makes me regret not saving some for me!

I did make a couple small adjustments based on what I had on hand, but I think they would be delicious as written. I do not keep Hershey's Syrup around (despite the occasional craving for it on vanilla ice cream or stirred into milk), so I decided to take a chance and omit it entirely. Of course that sort of ruined the "paisley" effect, but they still tasted great. I did make an executive decision to follow the idea behind adding the chocolate syrup and stirred in about 1 cup of dark chocolate chips. I think the dark chocolate paired very nicely with the sweet peanut butter chips. I would definitely make this recipe again.


Hershey's Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened (I used butter)
  
• 1/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter (I used whatever brand I had on hand)
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
• 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Syrup (I used dark chocolate chips instead, about 1 cup)
  

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

3. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; mix into peanut butter mixture, blending well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spread half of batter into prepared pan; spoon syrup over top. Carefully top with remaining batter; swirl with metal spatula or knife for marbled effect.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 36 brownies.