The Kitchen Refugee: Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Brownies

For as much as I love brownies, I REALLY love brownie batter! I'm not sure what it is about it, exactly, but it always hits the spot.

Today seemed like a good day for baking. I try to treat the guys my hubby works with every so often. The guys frequently mention 'The Green Plate' - it's the big serving plate that I send treats on. They have talked about buying me another one so we can always have one in rotation. One time when I sent goodies on a different plate, they were a little suspicious - they weren't sure if the treats were from me, or someone else. (It's almost always me!)

One of the guys has been asking for something peanutbutter/chocolate flavored - even though he knows it's not my husband's favorite combination. Brian likes these, though. Maybe because there's an element of cheesecake-i-ness to them, I'm not sure. Oh - this just in: Brian just snitched one from the plate and said, "Mmm...What makes these so Cheesecakie?" There ya have it! This is one of those recipes that require that you get a couple different bowls dirty, but trust me - it's worth the effort.

The original recipe came from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peanut-butter-brownies-ii.

Ingredients:
BROWNIES
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup melted butter
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Beat the eggs with the sugar until nice and fluffy. Add everything but the chocolate chips and mix like crazy. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Reserve 1 cup of the batter and pour the rest into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

PEANUT BUTTER 'FILLING'
2 8-oz packages softened cream cheese (fat free works fine)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 TB milk

In another bowl - mix together all of the filling ingredients. Spread peanut butter mixture over the brownie mixture as evenly as you can.

Next, take that cup of reserved brownie batter and drop it by spoonfulls over the peanut butter layer. Using a sharp knife, or even a skewer, cut in the batter, giving the brownies a marbled affect.