chubby up the hubbies

 I had mentioned a while back that I had a few recipes using the same batter and here is the final installment. I had such a hankering for baking with pretzels to achieve the always coveted sweet 'n salty taste. I kept wracking my brain for a good thing to pair pretzels with and I remembered one of my favorite snacks: peanut butter filled pretzels. From there my brain triggered the great combo of peanut butter, pretzels and chocolate, a la some ice cream place in Vermont.  Hooray, Chubby Hubby Brownies were born!  I am pretty sure my own dude is glad that they're not around right now to give him a bit extra around the middle.

Chubby Hubby Brownies

Yield: 32

INGREDIENTS
1 C unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
18 oz bitter sweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs (or 1 C liquid egg sub)
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C finely crushed pretzels
1 C lightly broken pretzels
1 C crushed Peanut Butter M&Ms®

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with foil, and lightly grease.
1. Melt 1/2 C of butter and stir with pretzel crumbs.
2. Press crumb mixture into pan, bake for 15 minutes.
3. While pretzel layer is baking, melt the other 1/2 C of butter, unsweetened chocolate and 9 oz. bitter sweet chocolate in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds) or over the stove until contents are completely mixed.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at medium speed while gradually adding dry ingredients to mixture until fully combined.
5. Add in chocolate mixture and beat well, it will be thicker than traditional brownie batter.
6. Stir in the rest of the chocolate chips and the 1 C of broken pretzel pieces. Press brownie mixture over baked pretzel layer. Sprinkle crushed Peanut Butter M&Ms over brownie batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Nutrition: 284 cal, 16g fat, 62mg sod, 35g carb, 19g sugar, 2g fiber, 5g protein