Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

These are what I like to refer to as a "sometimes" food with my kids. SOMETIMES I need something sweet. SOMETIMES I need chocolate. SOMETIMES I feel entitled to cheesecake, peanut butter, brownies, and a big glass of milk. Last weekend was a "sometimes." We went on a family backpacking trip for spring break. It was 3 days of seeing God's beautiful grandeur up close. But backpacking food is neither beautiful nor grand. It is edible and sustaining. 

So after we cleaned up and showered and rested for a day (and ate at Five Guys), I made these babies. They are perfect chewy brownies with a fluffy, peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake-ish truffle center, topped off with a drizzle of rich chocolate glaze. 

I ate mine slowly and deliberately, savoring each bite. Then the next day I ate another the same way. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies
Makes 16

Brownie Layer:
1 1/4  cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Truffle Filling:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a square baking pan (9x9" or 8x8")
2. Make brownie layer by melting chocolate chips and butter (don't boil). Set aside. Beat brown sugar and eggs. Add chocolate mixture a little at a time, beating well until completely mixed. Stir in flour and baking powder. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely.
3. Make truffle filling by melting chocolate chips over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Beat cream cheese in a separate bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Spread over cooled brownies. Place in refrigerator while preparing glaze.
4. Prepare glaze by melting chocolate chips and coconut oil, stirring until smooth. Spoon mixture into a plastic storage bag. Use scissors to snip a small hole in one bottom corner of the bag. Drizzle chocolate over the filling. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into bars to serve. Makes 16.

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Lovin' the Layers Skirt Tutorial

This skirt has been on my to-do list for a while. I have actually dreamed about the process I used. (Seriously.)  I had these 2 yards of fun orange fabric to use, but I wanted to get it right. I spent tons of time perusing Pinterest for a tutorial on how to make this, but I never found one that had the finished product I was looking for. 

Finally, after thinking, dreaming, and making a plan, I took the plunge. And I LOVE the result. And I had enough fabric left to make a little skirt for my little helper!

I began with 2 yards of 60" jersey knit fabric. My fabric was not heavy at all, which worked well to avoid a bulky-look with the many layers.

1. Measure your waist and cut a 12-inch wide strip of fabric the length of your waist measurement. Jersey-knit is very stretchy, so err on side of snug, not loose.  Sew this piece together at the short ends, right sides together.

2. Fold this piece in half length-wise, wrong sides together. This is your waistband. You can slip it on to see if you like how it fits.  Once you are satisfied, set it aside.

3. Now to the skirt.  Measure around the widest part of your hips/bum.  Add 8 inches to that measurement. Next determine the length you would like. You can use a skirt you own or wrap the fabric around your waist and mark with chalk where you want it to fall.  Now cut a piece of fabric that is the width  of your hips + 8" and as long as you would like the skirt to be. 

4. Fold and pin the length of this piece, right sides together. Sew her up.

5.Using the rest of the fabric, make 8-inch wide loops that  are the same circumference as the body of the skirt. I did this by making an identical skirt body and then cutting it into 8-inch sections. 

6. Pin one of the 8-inch loops to the top of the skirt body (right sides up on both). Be sure to line up the back seams. Sew this in place. No gathering stiches are needed for this skirt. :)

7. Cut 2 of the 8-inch wide loops lengthwise at an angle to look like this. If you need measurements--the short end is about 3 inches wide; the long end is 5 inches.

8. Now the fun begins.  Pin then sew one layer at a time to the body of the skirt. Make sure the layer above covers the top edge of the layer under it. Use the asymmetrical layers to off-set each other. I did 2 asymmetical layers after the first one, then another regular layer. I finished with another asymmetrical one.  Play with your design to get it just the way you want. 

And be sure to line up the seams on the back. 

9. Once the layers are all sewn on, it's time to attach the skirt to the waistband. I used the method I learned from V and Co.'s ruffle skirt. She explains and illustrates it well. I will explain below, but if you need further guidance, go check her tutorial out.

  Slide the waistband over the top of the skirt so it is circling the outside. The raw edges of the waist band will be next to the top edge of the skirt (which is double-layers because of the top tier of the skirt).  Pin the back seams together.  Then find the exact middle of the front of the skirt and of the waistband and pin those together. Now find the mid-point between the front and back of  both and pin at those points.  Continue to find the mid points between pins and keep on pinning. Your skirt will have lots of gaps. That is how to make this a nice, flowy skirt (and not skin-tight), without ever using a gathering stitch. 

Once you have pins at almost every inch around, sew the waistband on.

Turn the band back up, and you are done!

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