One-Bowl Chocolate-Peanut Butter Brownies

I will rarely say no to one-bowl desserts, peanut butter, or brownies, so when all three are involved I'm definitely going to be happy.  Unlike many peanut butter brownies, in this recipe the peanut butter is stirred right into the batter instead of swirled on top, so you save an extra bowl and extra step, and still get plenty of peanut butter flavor.  These brownies are soft and fudge-y, just like I like them.  They're great on their own, but even better with a scoop of ice cream on top.

One-Bowl Chocolate-Peanut Butter Brownies (adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, original recipe here)
Makes a 9x13 pan of brownies

12 T softened butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups (15 ounces) sugar
4  large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (2 ounces) cocoa powder
1-3/4 cup (8.75 ounces) flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 ounces chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with oil.
2. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes.  Beat in the sugar, followed by the eggs (one at a time) and the vanilla.  Beat in the cocoa powder until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.
3. Beat the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Scrape into the pan and try to get the batter as even as possible.
5. Bake 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out slightly wet (you don't want completely raw batter, but also don't want the tester to come out clean -- go for somewhere in between).