Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies

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Having owned an electric pressure cooker (or Instant Pot) for more than a year, I’ve tried my share of soups and stews, rice and beans, and eggs and oatmeal dishes in the trendy small kitchen appliance. One thing I hadn’t cooked in my Instant Pot was a dessert, until I came across Brittany Williams’ Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies recipe in her new cookbook, Instant Loss on a Budget: Super-Affordable Recipes for the Health-Conscious Cook.

I was a little hesitant about trying the recipe, which does not use flour. Plus, Williams’ ingredient list calls for items I don’t normally have stocked in my kitchen. But with my family craving a chocolate dessert on Super Bowl Sunday, I figured I’d give this recipe a try. Instead of a large pan of brownies, these brownies are pressure cooked in a small 6-inch round baking dish, enough for a small family to enjoy. While her recipe does call for things like cacao powder and raw honey, my substitutions still yielded delicious brownies! 

Ingredients:

  • Cooking oil spray
  • 1/2 cup organic peanut butter or raw almond butter (I used regular creamy peanut butter.)
  • 1/4 cup oak milk or other milk (I used unsweetened almond milk.)
  • 3 tablespoons cacao powder (I used cocoa powder.)
  • 2 tablespoons raw honey (I used regular honey.)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt (I used kosher salt.)
  • 3 tablespoons dairy-free chocolate chips (I used regular, dark chocolate chips.)
  • 1 cup water

Directions:

  1. Spray a 6-inch round baking dish with cooking oil spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, oat milk, cacao powder, honey, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and stir well.
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and cover with foil. Pour the water into an electric pressure cooker and set the dish on a trivet. Carefully lower the trivet and dish into the cooker.
  4. Place the lid on the cooker and make sure the vent valve is in the sealing position. Using the display panel, select the manual/pressure cook function and high pressure. Use the +/- buttons until the display reads 30 minutes.
  5. When the cooker beeps, switch the vent valve from the sealing to the venting position, administering a quick release. Use caution while the steam escapes.
  6. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before cutting.

Other recipes in her new book include Veggie-Lover’s Quiche, Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower with Creamy Ranch Dressing, Lasagna Soup with Cashew Ricotta Cheese, Maple-Chili Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Sausage Pizza Pasta and Kung Pao Chickpeas.

Instant Loss on a Budget: Super-Affordable Recipes for the Health-Conscious Cook is available upon request from Whitehall Public Library by calling 412-882-6622, or via the online catalog, here.