Comfort Cooking... and Eating

It's gloomy out today. Rainy, humid and dark gray skies have parked themselves over Chicago. Days like today call for cozy blankets and good books, and baking of course.

We are headed up to the lake tomorrow with friends for the weekend. I thought this was the perfect excuse to try a new recipe I found. You see, Rick's all time favorite food combination is peanut butter and chocolate. So I'm always on the hunt for something new to make involving the two ingredients. This one is a Cooking Light recipe (I know.. crazy!) and can be found here with detailed pictures and directions. The basic recipe is below.


Ooey-Gooey Peanut-Butter Brownies
Recipe from Cooking Light, Sept. 2010 

3/4 C sweetened condensed milk, divided (fat-free is fine)
1/4 C butter, melted and cooled (1/2 stick)
1/4 C non-fat milk
1  box devil’s food cake mix (18.25 oz)
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
cooking spray
1 7 oz jar marshmallow creme (about 1 3/4 C)
1/2 C peanut butter morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer, combine 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, milk, butter, cake mix, and egg white.  Mixture will be very thick.  Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray.  Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Use either floured hands, or spray your hands with cooking spray in order to press it down without having it stick to your fingers.  The layer will be thin.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Combine 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl and combine until smooth.  Stir in PB morsels.  No one will tell if you stir in some extras.  Spread marshmallow layer over brownie layer in pan.  Carefully drop remaining brownie batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.  (The original recipe calls for 30 minutes, but many readers have noted that 20 minutes was perfect, and I usually only bake for about 20-25).  Remove from oven and cool before cutting into squares.


Here's how mine turned out. We'll see what the verdict is on taste this weekend!

And for dinner tonight, we're having Low Fat Spinach Baked Ziti from my favorite cooking blog. Sometimes, you just need some comfort food... and why not try to cut the calories in half??

www.skinnytaste.com