Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

There are some small things in my simple life that make the world go 'round.

That first cup of morning coffee with my favorite creamer.

A warm and comfy bed at the end of a long day.

Getting the latest edition of a magazine delivered to my Nook.

Zombies.

You read right. I said zombies.

The Walking Dead on AMC is one of my favorite shows and, to me, every new episode is like Christmas morning! If you are not watching it, you should be. It is one of the best shows on TV right now. Between it, Dexter and American Horror Story I am a happy woman come fall. 

It's funny because I am not a blood and gore type person. And I loathe horror movies. Jason, Freddy, that wacked out pale face from Scream, they scare the bejeezus out of me. This show is pretty stinking bloody. (As are the other two shows I mentioned, but I'll explain my love for them some other time.) For some reason I am intrigued by the whole zombie thing. As far as I am concerned, a zombie apocalypse isn't happening in my lifetime so maybe that makes the idea less threatening. Yes, the show makes me jump and if I watch it before I go to bed it's inevitable that I will dream I am running from zombies all night. But it's SO worth it.

It comes on at 10 so I DVR it and watch it during the day to avoid those zombie dreams. When the first season was on, I could watch it with Baby Mac sound asleep in her bouncy seat. Well, now that she is more than aware of TV, watching it during the day has become a pipe dream. That means this last season's episodes have piled up on my DVR. Monday night, I couldn't stand it any longer. I bit the zombie bullet and got caught up. What a ride! I was exhausted when it was all over. The twists and turns are just so incredibly fun! And I CANNOT wait until the season starts up again in the fall.

I knew what I was getting into so it did not surprise me that I had one of the last shocking images from the finale burned into my brain as I laid in bed. I forced myself to think of something else, and that something became baking. One thing led to another and some leftover peanut butter icing I had in the fridge made it's way onto some dark, fudgy brownies. The following night, I made that fantasy recipe a reality. (And by the way, those forced thoughts of baking saved me from zombies that night.)

Ah, peanut butter and chocolate. A few more small pleasures in life. 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Brownie mix (family size), prepared to batter
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk


Directions:

-Stir chocolate chips into brownie mixture. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake according to box directions.

-Meanwhile, beat shortening, butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time if frosting becomes to thick to mix. Taste frosting and add more peanut butter if necessary. (I added a few more tablespoons so that the frosting had more of a peanut butter fudge taste.)

-Spread frosting onto brownies as soon as they come out of the oven and allow them to cool completely before cutting.

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What small things in life give you joy?