Buckeye Brownies

For Valentine's Day the husband and I prefer staying in to going out.  We had decided to do seafood this year and I had asked him if he wanted me to make him anything for dessert.  He decided he wanted me to surprise him with something that was peanut butter chocolate and delicious.  I scoured the internet and found a recipe on pinterest for Buckeye Brownies which I modified slightly.

The brownies are essentially three layers.  The bottom layer is brownie, the middle is a peanut butter cream and the top is chocolate and peanut butter melted together.

The first step is to make the brownie layer with mix in a 13x9 pan.  I had a dark chocolate fudge brownie mix which had two reipes, one for a fudgier brownie and one for more cake like brownies.  I figure the flatter, fudgier brownies would work for this receipe.  I replaced the oil in the brownies with Greek yogurt and baked them.  The most important thing is to make sure that you leave enough time for the brownies to completely cool.

Making brownie mix with Greek yogurt

After the brownies are baked you make the Peanut Buttercream.  The original recipe calls for a stick of butter, I only used 1/2 a stick and replaced the other half with Greek yogurt.  I also reduced the amount of powered sugar that I used.  The recipe is so creamy you won't be able to tell the difference.

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup creamy peanut butter

pinch salt

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tbsp milk

• Mix together the butter, Greek yogurt, peanut butter and salt in a stand mixer until all lumps of butter are smooth. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk gradually until the cream is viscous enough to spread over the cooled brownies.

Spreading buttercream over the brownies

After the buttercream is placed it is time for the last layer, which is just peanut butter and chocolate melted together.

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

 Mix together and place in the mircowave for 30 seconds.  Stir and place back in for 15 seconds.  Repeat until melted and pour over the buttercream.  Once the chocolate cools, you have a delicious three layer brownie.

Three layers of chocolate peanut butter goodness