Makeover Monday: Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies

Everyone knows I think peanut butter and chocolate are the bee's knees.  The only thing better than peanut butter and chocolate is double peanut butter and chocolate.  Yum!  I had a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips that I bought for the heck of it just lying around my pantry.  I considered just tossing them into a batch of chocolate cookies (like I did with the Reese's Pieces in my Chocolate Reese's Pieces  Cookies).  Then I noticed a recipe for double peanut butter paisley brownies.  That changed my plans!

I had to make these.  But I had to make these my way.  And by my way, I mean with less fat, less sugar, and more fiber.  While these were lacking in calories, they were not lacking in taste!  These were super yummy, and as peanut butter-y as promised in the title!

The bad news is my 9x13-inch pan just didn't last as long as I would have liked.  The good news is I didn't have to feel excessive guilt when I sneaked an extra piece or two!  That is thanks to using trans-fat free margarine, half Splenda, and half whole wheat flour.  I love it when I can get by with adding whole wheat flour to my desserts!  The whole wheat flour is totally stealthy in this recipe.  Everyone who eats these will be so distracted by the peanut butter and chocolate that they will never notice!

And this isn't just approved by a dietitian and her well trained husband.  My dad, who is not used to eating healthy, tried these the other night when him and my mom were at my house (watching K-State pound on West Virginia!).  I cut him a good sized piece, and he requested that I cut it in half.  I did, and put the small brownie on his plate.  He ate it, complimented it, and then asked if he could have the other half of the piece I originally cut for him.  Sadly, I had already eaten it.  So I had to just give him a whole new piece.

As you can see, I added a bit of chocolate syrup garnish on my brownies, but they really are pretty on their own.  Layering a peanut butter batter with a layer of chocolate syrup gives you the opportunity to easily create a cool marbled look by just running a knife back and forth across the batter.  See:

Anyone can do that!  The only thing you can't do with these brownies is resist them!

Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup Splenda granulated
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 10 oz package Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
1/2 cup Hershey's Lite Syrup
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.
Beat margarine and peanut butter in large bowl or electric mixer.  Add Splenda and brown sugar; beat well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in vanilla.
Whisk together flours, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually mix into peanut butter mixture, blending well.  Stir in peanut butter chips.  Spread half of batter in prepared pan; spoon syrup over top.  Carefully top with remaining batter; swirl with metal spatula or knife for marbled effect.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into squares.

Recipe adapted from Hersey