peanut butter brownies

I've come to the conclusion that I'm happier if I wake up in the morning with a plan to bake something. It's true. Do you ever wake up in the morning with a plan to wash the dishes and scrub the toilets and feel happier about it? I don't. Baking does it for me.

I find recipes that I want to make. Most of the time it's because I just want a taste. And then I hope that it's good enough to share with the family and the neighbors.

I found a good one.

I've made these peanut butter brownies four times in the past two weeks. I'm planning to make a double batch tomorrow for my Sunday baking festivities. I'll let the kids help so that I feel like I'm teaching them something.

I love it when I find a recipe and I already have all the ingredients. That means I don't have to wait or drag two kids to the store (even though they've been a pleasure to drag to the store lately, honestly) for extra stuff. Instant baking. It's my favorite because sometimes I'm just no good at waiting.

And to make myself feel better about all this baking I do, I've decided that I'll be sending my children off into the Big World some day with the ability to bake a killer chocolate chip cookie. Won't that be a very useful skill?

Sure, it's great to know how to iron a shirt, mow the lawn and balance a checkbook (although I'm not sure my kids will be using checkbooks in their Big World of the future), but imagine all the girls Danny could woo with his baking skills. A man who bakes? Is there anything more attractive? And surely Cate will know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. A big fat chocolate chip cookie in his stomach. Awesome.

Or a big peanut butter brownie. Whatever works.

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My helpful hints: bake them in a 9x13 pan (they'll be not so thick and you get more edge pieces and everybody knows the edge pieces are the best), don't bother with frosting them (just makes them messier for the kids) and use half dark chocolate chips and half semi sweet (if you love dark chocolate as much as I do).