Peanut Butter Brownies

During the past year my friends and I have been making brownies a lot. Since we do not have the patience to use a double boiler to melt chocolate, we use a mix. About a month ago my moms friend suggested that we make brownies from scratch and ever since then I have wanted to. The other night I was home alone and was craving chocolate and peanut butter. I decided to find a brownie recipe and add peanut butter to it to satisfy my craving. I was amazed by how gooey and peanut buttery these brownies were. Whenever people came over they would all gush over the brownies. I hope you enjoy my recipe for Peanut Butter Brownies!

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 pound semisweet chocolate chips
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

First pre heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Then, melt the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Let the chocolate cool for 5 minutes. 

Whisk together the chocolate, eggs, instant coffee, and vanilla together. To the wet mixture add the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until fully combined.

Add the brownie batter to a buttered and floured 9x13 baking pan. Add the peanut butter into the mixture and use a knife to swirl the peanut butter into the brownie batter. 

Cook the brownies for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the brownies cool and enjoy!

Vanilla Ice Cream

During the summer nothing sounds better than a cold cup of ice cream after a long day at the beach. In my town there are only two ice cream shops, which become boring after a while.  Instead of going to the same ice cream shop again, I decided to make my own vanilla ice cream. A few years back my mom bought a Cuisinart ice cream machine, which came with a recipe booklet with a recipe for vanilla ice cream. I followed the recipe and it came out fantastic! It tasted like it came from the shop, but in reality it was homemade. I hope you enjoy this vanilla ice cream recipe as much as I did!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup sugar

A pinch of salt

1 whole vanilla bean, halved and beans scraped out

5 egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a saucepan set over medium-low heat, whisk together the milk, cream, half the sugar, salt, and scraped vanilla bean (and the pod). Bring this mixture to a boil.

In a bowl mix the egg yolks and remaining sugar together until pale and thick.

When the cream mixture is at a slight boil add about 1/3 of the cream mixture to the egg mixture and whisk together. Once combined add the tempered egg mixture to the saucepan and stir constantly over low heat until the mixture thickens and can coat the back of a wooden spoon. The mixture must NOT boil or else the yolks will over cook and possibly scramble. 

If you want to get rid of the vanilla beans strain the ice cream through a strainer. Then, pour the mixture into a bowl and bring to room temperature. 

Add the vanilla extract and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Once cool pour the mixture into the ice cream machine. Then, freeze the ice cream for 1-2 hours to harden.

Serve and enjoy!