I learned two lessons this week. The first: never start baking until you're 100 percent certain you have all of the ingredients that you need. The second: when life gives you copious amounts of peanut butter, create a new recipe.
I set out this week to make rocky road brownies, thinking I had the walnuts the recipe called for hidden away in my pantry. Unfortunately, when I discovered that I was either wrong or our house elf had hidden them somewhere, the brownies were already in the oven and I had to think fast. I could either serve my co-workers and friends boring, plain box brownies or I could go ahead and get creative, using things I had to spruce up box brownies to make "semi-homemade" maven Sandra Lee proud. I had marshmallow fluff and peanut butter, which naturally led to this week's creation: Fluffer-Nutter Brownies.
If you're not familiar with the Fluffer-Nutter sandwich, I can understand why. They were a thing of legend at my elementary school lunch table - no way would our mothers send any of us out of the house with something that sugary in our lunchboxes! The Fluffer-Nutter combines peanut butter with marshmallow fluff, in a perfectly sweet, perfectly gooey concoction that lends itself easily to the top of a brownie. They couldn't be easier!
Ingredients:
1 box of brownie mix and the oil, egg, and water called for on the box
(Tip: I used the low-fat Betty Crocker mix made for a 13x9 pan. You can also be an overachiever and make brownies from scratch.)
½ cup peanut butter
(Tip: If you want some extra texture, go ahead and use crunchy peanut butter)
½ cup marshmallow fluff
¾ cup of chocolate chips
¼ cup mini marshmallows (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven as instructed by the box. Mix together eggs, oil, water and mix as instructed. Add chocolate chips to batter and mix well.
(Tip: If you like fudgy brownies, use one less egg than instructed)
2. Spread batter on the bottom of a lightly greased baking sheet and cook as directed.
3. As soon as the brownies are done baking, switch the oven over to the broiler function on a low setting. Layer the fluff and peanut butter on the top of the brownies, taking care not to tear the top up too much. Don't worry about fully spreading them. If adding optional marshmallows, sprinkle them on top.
(Tip: Only you can know what your perfect peanut butter/fluff ratio is, so it's up to you if you want to add more or less of either of them. There's no such thing as too much of a good thing!)
4. Place the pan back in the oven for 2-3 minutes, allowing the peanut butter and fluff to warm up and become more easily spreadable.
5. Remove from oven and fully spread the toppings on top of the brownies with a knife or rubber spatula. Let the brownies cool for at least an hour - they need to be completely cooled for the toppings to stay in place. Cut into pieces and enjoy!
(Tip: If you want to speed the cooling process up, place the brownies in the freezer for 45 minutes)
Five steps, store-bought mix and a learning experience are the ingredients for a delicious throwback to your childhood. There was no way I was going to finish the peanut butter I had in my pantry before graduation, and this was a perfect way to keep from being wasteful.
This proved to me that baking - that culinary art that you're not supposed to improvise on - is not as cut-and-dry as the baking-wary might believe. Luckily, my experiment turned out to be edible.
Contact Brenna Williams at bwillia9@nd.edu
