Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies and a PB CRAVE Giveaway! [closed]

I feel really bad for my roommate. It must be nigh unbearable to come late from work to the smell of warm, gooey peanut butter goodness wafting down our hallway; see the above decadent bars sitting on the kitchen table to cool…and NOT be able to have any.

Before you convince yourselves that I’m the worst roommate ever, these were made in honor of one of my good friends at work who’s leaving us to go get her MFA out west. I organized a going away party for her last week, and my reputation as “that girl who bakes stuff” at my office of course dictated that I had to provide something sweet and fabulous.

I’ve been teasing my followers on Twitter about these for days (sorry Miriam!), and finally, the wait is over. Peanut butter lovers unite!

These blondies are rich and chewy without being overly sweet–the peanut butter in the batter helps counter the white and brown sugars and chocolate chips. My favorite bites were the ones that had a Reese’s Pieces morsel tucked inside–when the soft, slightly salty dough of the blondie gave way to the crisp chocolate-peanut butter candy lying in wait.

Okay, okay, I’ll give it a rest. Here’s the recipe!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Choco Choco peanut butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup Reese’s Pieces candies

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and peanut butter until smooth. Then add the sugars and cream until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add egg and continue to beat at medium speed for 1 minute, until incorporated, then add vanilla.
5. Decrease mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients gradually. Do not overmix–stop the mixer just after the dry ingredients disappear into the wet.
6. Fold in chocolate chips and Reese’s Pieces with a spatula.
7. Spread batter into lined, greased baking pan and smooth surface as evenly as possible.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out mostly clean and the top of the blondies are golden-brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Makes about 20 squares.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!  [The giveaway is closed! Did you win?] I have seriously been excited about this one for weeks. If you know anything about me, you know that I have a fierce love for peanut butter. On sandwiches, in oatmeal, with chocolate…or on a spoon straight out of the jar. And while classic peanut butter is completely irresistible, spicing it up with different flavor combinations makes an already amazing thing even better.

The only thing that could possibly take my favorite topping to the next level? Being able to make a difference while I’m having one too many spoonfuls. And PB Crave does just that.

Around the world, malnutrition is the leading cause of death for children under 5. A minimum of 2% of the profits from every jar of PB Crave peanut butter goes directly to Project Peanut Butter, a nonprofit organization focused on treating malnourished children. The Project has touched the lives of more than 100,000 children by providing ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) featuring high-calorie, fortified peanut butter-like pastes.

Completely awesome, right?? And PB Crave comes in four scrumptious flavors:

• Razzle Dazzle (red raspberry, honey, white chocolate, and semisweet chocolate)
• Cookie Nookie (chocolate chips, cookie dough flavor, and honey)*
• CoCo Bananas (bananas, cocoa, and honey)
• Choco Choco (semisweet and dark chocolates and honey)

Plus, PB Crave uses no hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors, or syrups (including high-fructose corn syrup), and is gluten- and cholesterol-free. So everyone can enjoy!

*I absolutely did not in any way, shape, or form find myself dipping caramel corn straight into the jar of Cookie Nookie while watching Iron Chef. Why would you ever think that?

You all need some peanut butter in your lives. Seriously. So it’s super convenient that the awesome folks at PB Crave are providing one Chip Chip Hooray reader with a Choco Choco Variety Pack!

What you win:
–1 jar of Choco Choco peanut butter
–1 jar of Razzle Dazzle peanut butter
–1 jar of Cookie Nookie peanut butter
(A $20.97 value!)

How to enter:
–MANDATORY: Leave me a comment, telling me: What’s your favorite way to enjoy peanut butter?  

For extra entries (leave a comment for EACH additional entry):
–Subscribe to Chip Chip Hooray via RSS or email
–Follow @ChipChipHooray on Twitter
–Follow @PBCrave on Twitter
–Tweet the following: “I want to win a Choco Choco peanut butter variety pack from @ChipChipHooray and @PBCrave! http://wp.me/p1Yt6H-hy”
–Like Chip Chip Hooray on Facebook. Feel free to say hi while you’re there!
–Like PB Crave on Facebook.

That’s SEVEN total chances to win! Seven beautiful chances to get yourself some peanut buttery goodness.

Giveaway details:
–This giveaway is open to residents of the 48 contiguous United States only (sorry again, HI, AK, and UK friends!) and will run until from Monday, May 21, until Tuesday, May 29, at 11:59 pm EST.
–Winner will be determined via a random number generator software program. Winner will be notified via the contact email provided on the comment contact form.
–Winner will have until Wednesday, May 30, to respond to my email and claim their peanut butter pack or another winner will be chosen and contacted.
–Prize peanut butter will be shipped directly to the winner’s address by PB Crave.

Disclaimer: This giveaway was sponsored by PB Crave. I received a sampler four-pack of PB Crave peanut butters for review, but all opinions stated are my own.

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