chocolate peanut butter pretzel brownies

need i say more ? these are quite something. i saw them on a blog i've been following and i've wanted to try making them ever since. perfect to try on a rainy tuesday. and ingredients wise i had everything but the pretzel sticks, not bad for homemade brownies.

recipe
brownie
8tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter
2oz unsweetened chocolate
4oz semi-sweet chocolate (chocolate chips)
1tsp. instant coffee (optional)
3/4c sugar
3eggs
1tsp. vanilla
2/3c flour
1/2tsp. baking powder
1/4tsp. salt
coarse sea salt for topping (just a little bit!)

peanut butter filling
4tbs. unsalted butter (melted)
1/2c powdered sugar
3/4c peanut butter
1/4tsp. salt
1/2tsp. vanilla
handful of pretzel sticks

preheat oven to 325degrees. grease an 8by8 baking pan and line with parchment paper so that it overhangs on two sides and grease the paper as well.
in a double boiler melt butter, chocolate (and coffee) over the heat proof bowl. once melted, remove from heat and add the vanilla. in a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. once the chocolate mixture has cooled slightly mix in the sugar then the eggs one at a time. fold in the dry ingredients and pour into the greased pan.
for the peanut butter filling, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth. pour this filling on top of the brownie batter and then use a butter knife to swirl the two together. arrange the pretzels however you like. top with some sea salt. bake for 40-45minutes. let cool before serving.

this recipe comes from Joy the Baker blog. (http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/) adapted from martha stewart. i think i'll be using her blog alot more ... the only thing i would remember to do next time was swirl the peanut butter filling more into the chocolate mixture and take out the brownies earlier! i think i over-baked mine, and they were in for 40minutes. i also opted out of adding coffee but that's just what i prefer. oh and a suggestion from my mom: break up the pretzels instead/ easier to eat and everyone gets a bite with pretzels. but other than that, very good. it's nice to change things up from just the plain old chocolate brownies.