Recipe: PB&J Brownies

Ridiculous.

That was the word of the night when everyone bit into this perfectly, delectable treat.

Long story short... Sometime last month, my parents, sister and bro-in-law and us had an Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredient was cheese. B found this recipe in the Southwest magazine on the way home from Omaha. "Let's make THIS!" "But it doesn't have cheese in it... wait... I'll just add cream cheese to the brownies!" Done. We would have won, but Grandpa made a trip to the emergency room (for what ended up being pneumonia-- he's okay now) before he could try it and vote for it.

So...

If you sing the "peanut butter jelly time" song because you love PB&J's- make this.

If you just like peanut butter-- make this without the jelly

If you just like jelly-- make this without the peanut butter.

And if you don't like either? Just do the brownie with the wrapper. It's still awesome.

Recipe :

2 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed melted butter

4 two-inch square brownies

4 tablespoons peanut butter

4 tablespoons strawberry jam

4 tablespoons chocolate chips

Directions:

1 Lay one sheet of dough on work surface and brush with butter. Top with another sheet, brush with butter, then cut into four 8-by-8 inch squares. Place one brownie on each square.

2 Top each brownie with one tablespoon each of peanut butter and jam, thensprinkle with chocolate chips. Cinch dough around brownies and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Bake at 425ºF for 5 minutes, or until dough starts to brown.

(I forgot to take a photo! This was a practice one... you get the idea though. And look at the link above for the REAL picture)

Helpful hints:

- I used raspberry jam because it tastes better. But, I think raspberries taste better than everything else so just use your favorite.

-The phyllo dough I had wasn't as large as the directions say above. It just needs to be big enough to wrap around the brownie and for a gathering on top.

- Follow the directions on the phyllo dough box about keeping the dough "moist" (I hate that word). It dries out super quick and you need it to not be dry in order to gather it around the brownie.

- I used miniature chocolate chips-- it made it melt quicker.

How about that??? a 5-star dessert recipe with 5 ingredients? And, it's pretty much make ahead... a did boxed brownies (with cream cheese) and then just assembled at the party. YUMMMMMY!