Sweet Treats & Sweet Friends: Sweet & Salty Dark Fudge Brownies with Pretzel Bites and Peanut Butter Frosting + Food Blogger Awards!

You deserve something sweet.

Not only because sweet things are absolutely delicious, but because you are sweet.

I feel so blessed to have gotten to know so many wonderful food bloggers over the past several months.

When I first started this blog, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would meet so many beautiful souls, each one unique and special in their own ways.

Thank you.

Thank you for inspiring me every day with your creative and inventive dishes, for always being supportive to fellow food bloggers, and more importantly, for making me laugh with all the insane and wacky things you guys come up with in comments and Twitter! You guys are truly goofballs, but I love it!

Rita, from The Culinary Taste, awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award a few weeks ago. I was thrilled! And overwhelmed! How could I possibly narrow it down to just 10 people to award it to next?

But, the more I thought about it, the easier the decision felt.

To receive this Stylish Blogger Award you must:

1.  Write a post and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2.  Share 7 things about yourself. Silly and embarrassing facts are strongly encouraged.

3.  Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.

4.  Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!

Okay, here goes:

Seven Interesting or Not So Interesting Things About Myself

#1: I only have about 20 teeth. When I was young, I had braces and my dentist insisted I keep getting several of my teeth removed to help with my overbite. Needless to say, I got my braces removed and I still have a slight overbite. On the bright side, it doesn’t take me as long to floss.

#2: I am an avid World of Warcraft online gamer nerd. That’s right. I play video games. A lot of them. It’s gotten to the point where I dream “in-character.” Yah.

#3: I have a strong belief that I was abducted by aliens when I was 9 years old. I used to have these recurring dreams where I would get sucked up into this vestibule, paralyzed, and be surrounded by strange, bright, tall looking alien folk. I currently have an electronic nodule deeply inserted into my brain to track all thoughts, whereabouts, and erratic tendencies.

#4: My husband and I met in an online Yahoo chat room back in 1997. That was before Match & eHarmony, folks! We married in 2004.

#5: I am obsessed with the number 26. I love the way it looks.

#6: I once called 911 to complain about my broken TV. I was 5. My parents weren’t happy.

#7: I used to live on a ranch where all I did was ride horses, chase deer, and eat freshly picked figs straight off the tree.

And done. There you go! Just a thin layer of my weird personality.

So, here are the chosen few of wonderful food bloggers I’m handing the award to…

Monet from Anecdotes and Apple Cores

Theresa from Island Vittles

Chelsea from Sprinkles of Parsley

Steph from Steph’s Bite by Bite

Christina from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Jessica from Bacon and Soufflé

Lil from Sweets by Sillianah

Tiffany from Como Water

Lora from Cake Duchess

Victoria from So This Brunette Walks Into a Kitchen

These gals are fabulous, just fabulous! Always inspired by the things they whip up! Do give them a visit!

Okay, as promised.

Here’s the sweet treat.

I actually made these quite a few weeks ago and they were majorly yummy. They pretty much speak for themselves.

No more stalling. Have at it!

Sweet & Salty Dark Fudge Brownies with Pretzel Bites and Peanut Butter Frosting

Print the Recipe

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes (inactive)

Servings: Yields 1 large baking sheet

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

 

*Adapted from Bake at 350

1 ¼ C. flour

1 t. salt

2 T. dark cocoa powder

6 oz. dark chocolate; coarsely chopped

5 oz. bittersweet unsweetened chocolate

¾ C. peanut butter chips; dusted with flour

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 ½ C. sugar

½ C. firmly packed light brown sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 t. vanilla extract

1 small bag peanut butter filled pretzel bites

For the frosting:

 

*From Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

1 C. confectioners’ sugar

1 C. creamy peanut butter

5 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ t. vanilla extract

¼ t. kosher salt

1/3 C. heavy cream

Cooking Instructions:

 

For the brownies:

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line the bottom of a large baking sheet with a greased sheet of parchment paper, cutting to size. Butter the top of the parchment paper as well.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a small bowl set over simmering water to begin the melting process, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted completely. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the warm water. Whisk in both sugars until fully combined and then remove the bowl from the pot.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly.

Add 3 eggs to the cooled chocolate mixture and use a whisk to combine fully. Add in the remaining 2 eggs and whisk to incorporate. Then, add the vanilla and flour-dusted peanut butter chips, and mix together, being careful not to over-mix the batter.

Slowly begin to add the flour mixture, using a spatula to gently fold in the ingredients until fully combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the baking sheet and use a spatula to ease the mixture to all the corners and sides. Tap the baking sheet onto your counter or stovetop to release air bubbles.

Place the brownies in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.

Take the brownies out of the oven and allow to cool slightly before placing in the fridge overnight. Giving the brownies 24 hours allows for a much richer, deeper flavor.

On brownie day, take them out of the fridge and ease them out of the baking sheet. They should come out easily with the parchment paper. Peel off the parchment paper and discard.

Using a sharp knife, cut the brownies into squares. Set aside.

 

For the frosting:

 

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream this mixture together on medium-low speed until fully combined, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as needed. Add the heavy cream and increase the speed to high, working until the mixture is smooth.

Using an offset spatula, top each brownie with a layer of peanut butter frosting and finish with a sprinkle of cracked peanut butter-filled pretzel bites.

Provecho!

XO,

Steph