Brownies Are Not Made for Resolutions...

I made it to 31! Another year closer to getting to yell at kids to get off my lawn without anyone thinking anything out of the ordinary (I get terrible looks when I do it now, so come on late sixties!). Since 31 isn't really anything spectacular and my week was insanely busy, I didn't make a big fuss about my birthday cake this year like I usually do. I just made a simple chocolate cake with my Salted Bailey's buttercream frosting and tested out some Russian piping tips I got for Christmas (photo at end of blog, but really, nothing special). So why are we here, you ask? Because the week prior, I made sure all of my friends got in as many calories as possible before New Year's resolutions began. I made a giant pan of Buckeye brownies to bring to a friend's house. She's from Ohio, so she's definitely "in the know" when it comes to all things Buckeye--football, trees, candy, you name it. So she and her peanut butter and chocolate loving husband were big fans. As someone who spent a lot of time visiting and living in Michigan, it was a little painful to have to admit something to do with Buckeyes was positively amazing. With chocolate, anything is possible.

Worth every calorie.

Honestly, these are terrible for you. HOWEVER, they are also extremely rich and decadent, so you could get away with slicing these even smaller than I did. I made a 9x13 pan and cut them into 36 brownies for 320 calories a brownie. I ended up cutting a piece in half when I ate it because they were so rich and positively the perfect amalgamation of peanut butter and chocolate (so naturally, I had seconds). You could easily cut these into 48 squares to get them under 250 calories a serving. While they may not be New Year's resolution friendly, if you ever have a terrible week and need to eat your feelings, might I recommend this recipe. I'd let someone punch me in the face if it meant I could have one of these right after--they're really that good and great at lifting one's spirit. Behold, the magic of PB&C. Those crazy Ohioans are really onto something with Buckeyes (but only in the realm of food. Not football. Never.).

While they may be loaded with all of the calories, it is so insanely easy to make these brownies. I actually found the recipe on a Tasty video, and for once, it gave enough detail that even a novice baker would be able to handle this recipe swiftly and easily. Gather up:

• A 9x13 size box brownie mix (plus the ingredients required on the box)
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups of Jif (there is no better peanut butter)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 TBS heavy cream
• Optional (but not to me): sprinkles

You could try to make these healthier by replacing the oil in the brownie mix with unsweetened applesauce, and reduce the amount of peanut butter and powdered sugar (I'd say 1 cup PB and 2 cups sugar). The PB layer is super thick, so reducing these amounts would just provide a thinner layer.

Fact: a perfect way to begin any dessert is with a brownie base.

 Make your brownies according to box directions--definitely do not forget to grease the pan before pouring in the brownie mix though! When your brownies are almost done in the oven, mix together the melted  butter, Jif, vanilla, and powdered sugar in your stand mixer for a few minutes until completely smooth.

Try not to take a fork to this and begin shoveling into your mouth with reckless abandon.

Now, the moment those brownies come out of the oven, take your peanut butter mixture and spread it on top of the warm brownie layer using an angled spatula. I heated my spatula up under warm water, dried it off, and then spread out the PB layer. Worked like a smooth, delicious dream. Set this aside and get ready to ganache, baby.

Getting a Homer Simpson level of drool going here.

To make your ganache, dump the chocolate chips and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl. Nuke in the microwave for one minute, and then stir together until totally smooth. Pour the warm ganache on top of the peanut butter layer and use your angled spatula to smooth things out.

The finishing touches!

I took some gold glitter sprinkles and added a light dusting to the ganache before it set. It was New Year's Eve, after all, so I wanted to get super festive and sparkly. I'm always super festive and sparkly when it comes to dessert decor. Now, cover your pan and pop these bad boys in the fridge. I let mine set overnight before cutting into squares, but you'd probably be safe after refrigerating for 3-4 hours or freezing for 2.

This was a very heavy plate.

These brownies weigh about a ton thanks to all that layered goodness, but they're simple to cut and serve. I did notice that some of my peanut butter layers wanted to separate from the brownie, but since peanut butter is so nice and malleable, I just squished those pieces back together. Remember--alcohol is served at parties, so no one will notice a few smooshed in pieces thanks to this, and to the fact that they'll get inhaled before anyone can look at them for longer than a second or two.

The plate was gone very, very quickly. I mean, just look at that layer action.

These were positively a hit, and I'm really glad there weren't any leftovers for me to take home and end up eating all at once. Small miracles. No matter how you feel about Buckeyes and Ohio, I can promise you if you even remotely like chocolate and peanut butter together, these brownies will blow your mind. Now, on to that boring birthday cake...

Just florals and boozy frosting, NBD.

 I was super frustrated by these Russian piping tips. "It's so easy--anyone can use them." In comes the baker with several years of piping and decorating experience under her belt, and no, anyone cannot use them. I wanted to do two-toned flowers in whites, blues, and purples, and followed directions on several Russian piping tip tutorial videos to do so and used a technique I had never done before and had zero luck with. I will stick to painting the inside of my piping bags with gel dye like I knew I should have because this actually works. I was also told to use extremely stiff frosting, but then only half my decorations were coming out of the piping tips at a time. It's a miracle I got any of them to work at all, so lesson learned--just use regular consistency buttercream. At least my leaf game is on point:

Yeah, you go Wilton leaf tips. Making life easy.

The concept is cool, so I'll definitely revisit these Russian piping tips. My biggest complaint is that the tips aren't numbered, so I have to use the guide that came with them and the tiny little pictures on it in order to figure out what each one does. I'd even have taken Russian symbols or something. I mean, really. First world problems indeed, but I'll be back soon after I've had more practice showing these tips who's the boss. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!