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Black & White Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

April 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

In case you missed it, which would be super sad for you, Monday was my BBFF Nicole’s birthday! To celebrate, I made her brownies!

Now, I’ll be honest. I don’t usually make brownies from scratch. I usually let TJ’s Reduced Guilt Brownie Mix or No Pudge Brownie Mix do the work for me, because they are both delicious and easy. However, there was no way I was going to use a box mix for Nicole’s birthday. Have you read her blog??? She’s like a real chef. In fact every single time I cook for her, or she eats something I make, I get suuuuuuper nervous.

Luckily, these turned out much better than the gnocchi incident of 2012. In fact, they came out ridiculously good.

And now I have a huge problem on my hands…

All I can think about is brownies!!

Brownies, brownies, brownies, brownies, bbbrrrooowwwwnnniiieeesss!!!

Rich, sweet, gooey and chocolatey with peanut butter chips perfectly complementing the white and dark chocolate.

Or in other words YUM!

Black & White Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

yield 36 brownies

For the white layer:

  • 2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 5.5 ounces Sunspire white chocolate chips
  • 2 tbs light whipped butter
  • 6 tbs nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1/3 cup Splenda
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup Sunspire peanut butter chips

For the black layer:

  • 2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 5.5 ounces Sunspire grain sweetened chocolate chips
  • 2 tbs light whipped butter
  • 6 tbs nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1/3 cup Splenda
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup Sunspire peanut butter chips

For the White Chocolate Glaze:

  • 10 oz bag Sunspire white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
  • 3 tbs unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • sprinkles for topping (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13 glass baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
  2. Start with the white layer.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together.
  4. Put the white chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water (or a double broiler), stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add sugars, Splenda and yogurt. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan.
  5. Add eggs substitute and vanilla to the white chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Do not over mix.
  6. Gently fold in flour mixture followed by peanut butter chips. Batter will not be completely smooth. Tiny flour clumps will bake out.
  7. Pour into prepared baking pan.
  8. Repeat steps 3-6 with black layer.
  9. Pour black layer on top of white. Use a butter knife to gently swirl.
  10. Bake for 40-50 minutes, turning once in between to ensure even cooking.
  11. Let stand for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (this is where the parchment paper comes in handy!)
  12. Make glaze by microwaving white chocolate and butter together in a medium bowl on 20 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.
  13. Add vanilla and milk and stir until combined.
  14. Spread over completely cooled brownies, top with sprinkles if desired and allow to cool for approx 1 hour.

Filed Under: Brownies & Bars, Dessert · Tagged: birthdays, brownies, chocolate, dessert, peanut butter, recipe, seeingflashes.com, sunspire, white chocolate, whole grain

Skinnified Sunday: Monster Cookies

April 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

I have always been a sucker for monster cookies. There are so many ways to make them, but the basic concept includes peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and oats. How could you go wrong with those ingredients?! Seriously. I had some at a friend’s birthday and have been dying to make my own ever since. When I noticed that Sunspire had their own version of M&M’s, I bought them immediately knowing monster cookies were on the horizon!

I found the original recipe from Taste of Home

My swaps:

  • ¼ cup Better’n Peanut Butter for half the peanut butter (-fat, -calories)
  • TJ’s Honey Apple Butter for butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat, -cholesterol)
  • Splenda* for some of the sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Egg substitute for whole eggs (-fat, -cholesterol, -calories)
  • Rolled oats for quick cooking (just what I buy)
  • Sunspire Sun Drops for M&M’s (-sugar, -calories)
  • Sunspire grain sweetened chocolate & peanut butter chips for butterscotch chips (-sugar, -calories)
  • No peanuts (-fat, -calories, and I don’t like nuts in cookies)
  • White whole wheat flour for all-purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • Extra cinnamon & vanilla (+yum)

*Some people feel really strongly about Splenda. You can easily use all sugar real sugar, I just prefer to cut some of the calories.

I was a little nervous about swapping in the Better’n Peanut Butter, but I was amazed at how well it worked!! That stuff is okay on its own, but it doesn’t compare to the real stuff. In baking, however, I would have never even known there was anything different!

PS, what is the difference between Better’n Peanut Butter and PB2? Does anyone know? All the popular bloggers use PB2, but I couldn’t find it 🙁 And obviously, if all the cool kids are doing it, I don’t want to be the lame one using the wrong peanut butter substitute. Clearly, I have really grown up and no longer use junior high mentality 😉

Okay, but back to the cookies…ummmm…they were gone in one day. Actually like 6 hours.

Whoops.

I think Jason may have eaten 4 in one sitting. Don’t judge him. They were really that delicious. And they’re “healthy” so that means you can eat the whole batch, right?

Skinnified Monster Cookies

Yield 2 ½-3 dozen cookies

  • 1/4 cup PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful (you can use regular PB, but this is just my favorite!)
  • ¼ cup Better N Peanut Butter
  • ¼ cup honey apple butter
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup turbinado sugar
  • ½ cup Splenda
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup Sunspire Sun Drops
  • ¼ cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup Sunspire peanut butter chips
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream peanut butter, Better N Peanut Butter, apple butter, and sugars. Add egg substitute, then baking soda and vanilla.
3.  Add oats, M&M’s, butterscotch chips and peanuts; let stand for 10 minutes.
4.  Stir in flour.
5. Use a medium cookie scoop  cookie dough onto the baking sheet, then use a sprayed piece of wax paper to flatten slightly.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes until edges are golden. Let stand for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cook completely.

I love my cookie scoop. Just saying.

Filed Under: Cookies, Dessert · Tagged: baking, better'n peanut butter, chocolate, cookies, peanut butter, skinnified, sunspire, whole grain

Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Cups

April 5, 2012 · by Ari ·

Honestly, does it really get any better than chocolate and cookie butter?

The answer you’re looking for is “No. It does not.”

Well unless you add Fleur De Sel. Then it absolutely does.

Freaking yum.

What do you even say about something that is basically a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but made with TJ’s Cookie Butter and sprinkled with Fleur De Sel?

You say “Yes, please” and don’t ask any questions.

These are actually part one of a baking project that will continue tomorrow for a very special person’s birthday. A person so special, that he gets homemade candy inside his birthday cupcakes. He’s a lucky guy, I tell ya.

One of the best things about this recipe is that there are endless combinations. White chocolate, milk chocolate, any type of nut butter that exists, you name it. Trust me, I have about a million variations floating around in my head right now. Just think of it as a ‘coming soon’….

Until then, please join me in drooling over these bad boys and wishing they were magically calorie free. In a perfect world, right? Oh and did I mention they only have 4 ingredients? Almost perfect world…

Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Cups

yield 24

lightly adapted from Ashley‘s Chocolate Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter Cups

  • 20 oz dark chocolate (chips, or good quality chocolate chopped)
  • approx 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter
  • 1 scant tbsp coconut oil
  • Fleur De Sel for sprinkling

Directions:

  1. Line 24 mini muffin tins with paper liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, melt chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.
  3. Spoon enough chocolate to cover the bottom of each baking cup.
  4. Add 1-2 tsp Cookie Butter.
  5. Fill with chocolate until Cookie Butter is completely covered and top is smooth.
  6. Sprinkle with a nice pinch of Fleur De Sel.
  7. Freeze to set. Keep in freezer or fridge.

Filed Under: Dessert, Snacks, Truffles & Cups, Vegan · Tagged: candy, chocolate, cookie butter, fleur de sel, recipe, reese's, sunspire

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