let's break these down.  layer of brownie (with peanuts).  layer of thick, chunky peanut butter frosting.  layer of chocolate ganache.  sprinkle of salted, roasted peanuts.

i mean, things have been too healthy on the blog lately.  too much summer produce, not enough butter. 

although, is too much summer fruit and veg possible?!?! i'm certainly doing my best to see.  for example, my current experiment is determining just how many pounds of cherries can one safely consume without turning into violet beauregarde.  i'll keep eating and report back.

in the meantime, these brownies are heaven on a plate any time of year.  it's a dorie greenspan recipe by way of epicurious.  and i really didn't change much.  other than adding more peanuts on TOP of the brownies despite the many layers of peanuts within, but i'm a glutton for a salty crunch.

you're going to have to melt a lot of chocolate for these bad boys.

ok, i lied about not changing anything.  dorie says use a mix of unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate.  i made these brownies as a part of a peanut butter & chocolate week of celebration (including a butterfinger layer cake.  to die for.) and i had two gorgeous blocks of callebaut milk and dark chocolate.  i used some of that.  and some ghirardelli and other assorted bits of chocolate around the kitchen i wanted to use up.  and i cut back on the sugar to compensate.  it worked out. 

there's also a lot of good peanut butter in this.  use jif.  always use jif.

choosy bakers who love chunks choose jif.  choosy somms also choose jif.  but can someone please explain to me why all the dc-area grocery stores stopped selling reduced-fat chunky jif?  is it a conspiracy to make me start using full fat?  to make me drop peanut butter toast cold turkey?  to make me start buying grocieries through amazon? 

i probably could have made it through this post without showing you how i cut a corner out of the brownies before ganaching and frosting them.

but, i am doing this as a public service announcement.  don't be like me.  don't eat these brownies without the toppings.  don't get me wrong, they are fine brownies.  especially warm.  but there is something about the package deal that is so much better.  the brownie stops being so cakey and and really does get moist and fudgy.  it's almost like candy – super rich. 

i thought the peanuts on top were a good add.  had these brownies lasted longer than a day, they might have gotten a bit soft, but the day-of they were a nice crunchy, salty contrast to the everything else.

you won't be able to have just one.

Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts

Use this recipe, but add more nuts on top.  Do it.