on monday, labor day, we brilliantly decided to go to ikea. sean and i have been planning this since we moved into our new place in july. our old dresser didn’t even make it out of the apartment, our old couch is done, we have been coffee table-less for a few years and sean needed a desk. so, we coordinated with our friends danny and jackie and caravaned it to west sacramento.

holy hell were we not prepared to spend 4 hours (usually a 2 hour trip, depending on how speedy you are ;) trying to traverse the sierras from reno to sacramento. that trip rarely takes that long, even in inclement weather. we, stupidly, did not foresee the mass exodus of labor day-weekenders and burning man goers out of the black rock desert with their cars and bicycles and giant mobile art pieces covered and embedded with poof dirt (bug dust, playa sand, hella-powdery-dust-of-doom) to head back to their homes and jobs and lives.

anyway, i digress, as usual…by the time we got to ikea, jackie was green with car-sickiness in their car, while i was swearing to disembowel the other f-ing drivers with a bionic-raptor-pinky-claw that i will apparently someday have grafted onto my hand. sean, however, had his mind on swedish meatballs and cheap-moderately priced furniture. i like a man with priorities.

speaking of priorities, let’s talk brownies. we’ve all had a brownie or two in our time, i definitely have and i have the waist-line to prove it. these brownies combine two of my favorite things: peanut butter and chocolate. they are irresistible! omigodnomnomnom! i had one before our friends arrived for our labor day fête…and then i had another when they arrived…and one for dessert…and yes, one after they left (don’t worry, i washed it all down with copious amounts of white sangria that jackie made).

our dog jezebel even attempted to poison herself by eating the leftovers as evidenced by the torn and pb smeared bag remnants i picked up off the floor the next day. she’s okay, but what a fiend she is.

make these, they will rock your socks off. i promise. unless you hate peanut butter. then i hate you. j/k, i don’t hate you…we just won’t be able to discuss peanut butter, because well, i just can’t understand that kind of insanity.

peanut butter frosted brownies
adapted from epicurious.com
the original recipe calls for an additional layer of chocolate. i like my pb-chocolate ratio to be 50/50 0r 60/40 with the peanut butter as the star.

3/4 cup butter, unsalted, cut into small pieces
10 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (i used valrhona feves, omg! amazing!)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temp
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup salted, roasted peanuts chopped

position rack in oven and preheat to 325 F. line a 9×13 pan with foil, leaving a long overhang. butter the foil.

add butter and chocolate to a medium saucepan. over low heat, stir constantly until chocolate melts and is smooth. remove from heat and whisk in sugar, vanilla and salt. add eggs one at a time and mix until combines. fold in the flour and peanuts. pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick insrted in center comes out with few crumbs attached.

cool completely on a rack.

peanut butter frosting
i think the nutmeg in this does amazing, magical things. don’t skip it fools. i used smooth pb, the recipe calls for chunky. do what you want.

1 cup peanut butter (natural is not recomended)
1/2 stick softened butter, unsalted
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole milk
optional: 1/4 cup chopped, roasted peanuts

beat butter and peanut butter to combine in the bowl of a mixer or with a hand mixer and medium bowl. blend in sugar, salt, nutmeg and milk. spread frosting over cooled brownies and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.