The thing I love about baking is that it is all about science. With cooking, there is an artist element that I just can't always be bothered to deal with. But baking is like a delicious math problem. As long as you have all of the primary numbers in place your answer will always be right.
After a particularly trying day at work this week, I came home and went straight to the kitchen. All I wanted was the peaceful assurance that only baking can bring. The deliberate measuring of ingredients, the soft scrape of a spatula stirring melting chocolate, the zen feeling of accomplishment when a warm and inviting smell wafts out of the oven. But I didn't want to be baking for hours. Just a quickie to unwind. So I whipped up these bits of perfection. About 30 minutes of prep and 35 minutes in the oven and that's all it took!
You'll need:
7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey roasted peanut butter (freshly ground if possible)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch square baking dish. Line dish with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the edges by about 2 inches and lightly grease the foil.
(Why am I doing this?)
In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring butter, sugar, and water to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat and stir chocolate chips into the sugar mixture until completely melted. Let cool to warm. Stir in eggs until well blended.
In a small bowl thoroughly mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined.
Pour batter into baking dish and spread batter to edges. Drop small bits of peanut butter on top of the batter and use two toothpicks to swirl the peanut butter through the batter.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
