Layered Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients

3 large eggs

1 cup melted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup baking cocoa

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Filling:

16 ounces cream cheese

½ cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons 2% milk

¼ cup sugar

1 large egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, butter and vanilla until smooth. Whisk together the dry ingredients; gradually add to egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside 1 cup for topping. Spread remaining batter into a greased 13x9-inch. baking pan.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and milk on low just until combined. Carefully spread over batter. Drop reserved batter by tablespoonfuls over filling. Cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35–40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Chill until serving.

For super clean-cut brownies, chill them in the refrigerator before slicing and serving. After that, store the layered brownies in an airtight container or covered with foil at room temperature on the counter for a day or two. To extend their lifespan beyond that, store them in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakelike brownies. To make them more fudgy, the trick is to add more fat, which in this case is butter. A cakelike batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening.