Peanut Butter Blondies From Sweet On You

We are avid Disney Cruise Line fans. Wait, that’s not good enough.

We are RABID Disney Cruise Line fans.

There’s nothing that compares to a day at sea with Disney. The service and entertainment is the best you’ll find afloat. But, let’s be honest. When you think about cruising, there’s one thing that really comes to mind; the food. There’s plenty of it day and night. And much of it comes with the price of the cruise.

However, there are a few places, aboard the ships, that we don’t mind spending a little extra to dine. We love the wonderful meals at Palo and Remy. They’re worth every cent to us.

The other spot we love to hit up is Sweet On You Ice Cream Shop aboard the Disney Fantasy. Their gelato is absolutely magical. However, if you visit, don’t miss the baked goods, as well. Our favorite from that case is the Peanut Butter Blondies. What can I say. It combines three of my favorite things; peanut butter, chocolate and a Disney Cruise. The only problem was we only got them once every couple of years while onboard. So we thought we’d remedy that. So, here’s the recipe for those magnificent little circles of joy.

Let’s get baking!

 

The Chocolate Ganache

This part of the dish may seem tricky but it’s actually fairly simple to put together. All you have to do is heat the Heavy Cream in a small sauce pan, while stirring occasionally, until it’s just at the boiling point.

Meanwhile, place the dark chocolate chips in a small to medium sized bowl. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and stir until it has completely melted and has blended together. Then place the ganache into your refrigerator to cool.

• Chocolate Ganache is very simple to create but is also very useful. It can be utilized in a few different ways. It’s great as a layer in between baked goods or as a very rich frosting. My favorite way to use it is as the “molten” center of a Chocolate Lava Cake. I’ll be sharing that recipe with you in the weeks to come.

The Blondies

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Next, gently melt together the Peanut Butter, White Chocolate and Butter in a double-boiler. Using a spoon, lightly blend them all together.

• Don’t have a double-boiler? Don’t worry. Very few actually do. Just put a couple inches of water in a small to medium sized sauce pan and heat on the stove. Place a metal mixing bowl on top of the pan. Voila! You have a double-boiler.

Meanwhile, whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar together using an electric mixer. The combination should thicken slightly.

Be a little careful with this next step

The next thing you’ll want to do is temper the egg mixture into the melted ingredients.

• Just in case you don’t know what that means, tempering is a way to slowly bring something like an egg mixture up to a certain temperature without “cooking” the eggs. We love scrambled eggs but we don’t, necessarily, want them in our blondies.

You do this by slowly adding the egg mixture while continuously stirring the melted ingredients.

Drizzle a little eggs and stir.

Drizzle a little more eggs and stir.

Do this until the eggs and melted ingredients are completely blended.

Next, sift the flour and gradually fold into the egg and melted ingredients mixture. Add the Pecans and mix until all items are blended.

Prepare a 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter and add the batter; spreading evenly.

Bake at 350ºF for approximately 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Then cool completely on a baking rack.

The Garnish

Okay, here’s where I completely changed this up. Just for a second, scroll back up to the original picture of this dish from Disney.

Are you back?

Good.

I can’t do that! I’m guessing, neither can you. So I decided to do something a bit different that most people will be able to do in your own home.

Here we go!

Start by placing 2 cups of Dark Chocolate in a double-boiler. (Yep, it’s back) Heat on the stove, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted.

Meanwhile, place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.

Spoon the melted chocolate into a pastry bag with a fine tip.

• If you want to cut back on the mess, you can also create a piping cone out of parchment paper. Here’s a great video showing you how to do that technique.

Carefully pipe the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper into any shape you would like. As you can see from the above photo, I decided to make them into “Mickeys”. Once you’ve created the desired amount, let the chocolate sit to cool.

A Little Extra

Now can just stop there and that would be fine. But I like to add a little bit more to my garnish. So, here’s what I did.

I melted another cup of Peanut Butter Chips in a double-boiler. (It’s getting more use in this recipe than it has in the last 3 years) I then spooned the melted peanut butter into another piping bag (or parchment cone). Once the chocolate garnishes had mostly set, I piped out the peanut butter in a crisscross pattern. You can see the result in the photo below. Once again, cool until the garnishes set completely. (You can place them in the refrigerator to help move the process along)

Again, these are not as pretty as what the pastry chefs aboard the Disney Fantasy are creating. However, I find these to be fairly simple and fun to make. The kids can even take part in creating these.

Putting It All Together

Once the Peanut Butter Blondies have completely cooled, it’s time to put the whole thing together. Cut the Peanut Butter Blondies using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. See the example in the picture, below.

Try to cut the Blondies as closely together as possible so you can waste as little of this wonderful baked good as possible.

• You can also just cut these into square or rectangles with a knife like you would with standard brownies. But, what fun is that?

Frosting

Now that you’ve cut the blondies into beautiful, peanut buttery disks, it’s time to top with the Chocolate Ganache. You can do this in a couple of ways.

The Harder Way

Spoon the ganache into a piping bag with a medium-sized star tip. (You can also use a round tip but the piped out chocolate can look like…well…let’s just say it looks like a very popular brown emoji) Starting on top of the blondie, pipe a layer of the chocolate gancahe in a circle. Continue around the top until you reach the center and the blonide is completely covered.

The Easier Way

You can also just frost the top similar to what you would do with a cake. Just spread an even layer of the ganache across the top using a rubber scraper or, simply a knife. It’s not quite as stylish a way to get it done. However, it is definitely easier.

The Garnish

Once the Chocolate & Peanut Butter garnishes have firmed up, pick your favorites and carefully remove from the sheet pan. Trim any loose ends of chocolate and/or peanut butter from the sides until you get the shape you want. Then, just place on the top of the Peanut Butter Blondies.

There you have it!

The Final Conclusion

These little circles of heaven are absolutely wonderful. The peanut butter comes through but the white chocolate balances the flavor. You also get that hint of brown sugar you expect from a blondie. There’s also a nice occasional texture change that comes from the pecans. We love this dessert. (Michelle loved it so much, she asked me to make it again just a couple of days later…that’s a great sign!)

Now, obviously, my garnishes lack the flair of what you can get while onboard the Disney Fantasy. Let’s just call them “rustic”. However, I do believe it’s something you can create fairly easily at home and, if you choose, include the entire family. But, it is a step you can skip. Feel free to top it with your favorite candy or sprinkles or whatever you want.

Make it how you like it!

If you have any questions about this or any of our recipes, just hit us up below in the comments. You can also reach us through our Contact Us page or through email.

 

Peanut Butter Blondies

Blondies

• 1 cup – White Chocolate Chips
• 1 stick – Unsalted Butter
• 4 tsp – Peanut Butter – Creamy
• 3 – Large Eggs
• 1 cup – Brown Sugar
• 1¼ cups – All Purpose Flour
• ¼ cup  – Pecans – Chopped

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup – Heavy Cream
• 2 cups – Dark Chocolate Chips

Garnish (optional)

• 2 cups – Dark Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup – Peanut Butter Chips

For the Chocolate Ganache

• Heat the Heavy Cream in a small to medium sized pan until just boiling
• Place the Dark Chocolate Chips in a small to medium sized bowl
• Pour the heated cream over the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture has blended
• Reserve in the refrigerator until ready to use

For the Peanut Butter Blondies

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF
• Melt the White Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter and Butter in a medium sized pan
• Whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar with an electric mixer until thickened
• Temper the egg mixture into the melted ingredient mixture
• Sift the All Purpose Flour and fold into the batter then add the pecans
• Pour the batter into a prepared 9 inch baking dish and spread evenly
• Bake at 350ºF for approximately 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
• Cool completely on a baking rack

For the Garnish (optional)

• Melt the Dark Chocolate Chips
• Using a pastry bag with a fine tip or a parchment cone pipe the chocolate on to a parchment covered pan to the shape you’d prefer
• Allow to cool and firm
• Melt the Peanut Butter Chips
• Using a pastry bag with a fine tip or a parchment cone pipe the peanut butter on to the chocolate shapes you had created earlier
• Allow to cool and firm

To complete the Peanut Butter Blondies

• Cut the Peanut Butter Blondies into your desired shape
• Top the cut blondies with the Chocolate Ganache using a pastry bag with a medium tip or by spreading evenly with a rubber scraper or knife
• Place the desired garnish on top

Be sure to check out some of our other Disney Dishes:

Hoisin Sticky Spare Ribs from Morimoto Asia

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb from Blue Bayou Restaurant

Ratatouille from the movie Ratatouille