Peanut Butter Dots (Brownies)

Peanut Butter Dots (Brownies)
From: taxi78cab

1/3 C creamy peanut butter (I used natural and it was fine.)
1/3 C powdered sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1 1/3 C sugar (I used 1 C which was plenty sweet for our taste.)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9” sq baking pan with foil; spray foil with Pam. (Note: I used an 8x8 glass pan, sprayed with Pam but without foil… it was fine. Skip the foil.)

Combine PB and powdered sugar in a small bowl until paste forms; roll into 16 balls of about 1 tsp each. (Note: I put these in the freezer to harden up a bit before trying to push them into the batter. I’d recommend doing that, especially if you have natural PB, which is softer at room temperature than the major brands.)

Microwave butter and chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring after each to distribute the heat. (Don’t skip the stirring! The microwave heats unevenly and you will get burned pockets if you don’t stir.) Allow to cool a bit before adding to the egg mixture. (Temp should be below 120 if you have an instant-read thermometer in order to avoid cooking the eggs.)

Beat eggs in med bowl then add in sugar and beat until frothy. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt and then add to chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Spread in pan, tapping on counter to smooth top.

Place PB balls on top of chocolate mixture, pressing slightly into batter and arranging so that each bar will have 1 ball in center (i.e. 4x4). (This is where it's nice to have slightly firmer PB balls from the freezer. It's really hard to press mooshy, soft PB into the batter.)

Bake 25-30 min or until toothpick inserted 1” from side comes out clean and when inserted in center comes out with a trace of chocolate. (Don’t wait until it comes out completely clean… the brownies are too dry if you do that.) Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 16 bars.