Lucifer’s Molten Brownies
These brownies are one of the earliest recipes from the original iteration of my site. I want to say that the first time I made these was in either 2006 or 2007. At the time, I was living alone and decided to bring the bulk of these brownies in to share at work. One of my colleagues was responsible for the name of the recipe. He actually called them the devil’s brownies, but I wanted to enter the recipe into a contest and thought that “Lucifer” would read a bit better than “Devil”. From that day on, these have been known as Lucifer’s Molten Brownies.
Like so many of the older recipes from my site, I gave this one a little bit of a makeover before re-posting. I toned down the sugar in the filling, bumped up the peanut butter and added an egg and just a touch of sour cream. Previously, the filling was more like a peanut butter cream cheese buttercream and now it is a rich peanut butter cheesecake swirled into dark chocolate cocoa brownies studded with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips (one of my few brownie recipes that uses my Fudgy Cocoa Brownies as the base recipe). The peanut butter fudge topping (essentially a thick ganache) puts these brownies right over the top into decadence.
My Lucifer’s Molten Brownies may not have won the contest I entered them in, but they never fail to win over a crowd. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Baking pan 13" x 9"
- Electric mixer
- 4 bowls 3 small and 1 medium
- whisks
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- piping bag or 1qt zip top bag
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 package cream cheese 8 oz, softened
- 8 tablespoon peanut butter creamy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg large, room temperature
- 2 tablespoon sour cream room temperature
Brownies
- 1 cup flour all-purpose
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter unsalted
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chunks semisweet or bittersweet
- ½ cup peanut butter baking bits
Peanut Butter Fudge topping
- 12 ounce chocolate chips semisweet or bittersweet
- 3 ounce heavy cream
- 6 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup light
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 13×9 inch baking pan with non-stick foil.
For the filling:
- In a small bowl blend together the cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla and salt until fluffy.1 package cream cheese, 8 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Slowly mix in the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated and the mixture is uniformly smooth and creamy.1 cup powdered sugar
- Blend in the egg and sour cream until well combined. Set aside.1 egg, 2 tablespoon sour cream
For the brownies:
- Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a small bowl until uniform in color and set aside.1 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Place the butter and espresso powder in a medium, microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until the butter is melted and hot.1 cup butter, 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
- Immediately, whisk both sugars into the hot butter and continue whisking until mostly dissolved and slightly lightened. This can be done by hand or with an electric mixer.1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.4 eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fold in the dry ingredients just until incorporated, do not overmix.
- Stir in chocolate chunks and peanut butter chips. Spread about 3/4 of the batter evenly in the prepared pan.1/2 cup chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup peanut butter baking bits
- Spoon the filling into a piping bag or zip top bag, snip the tip (or a bottom corner) off the bag and pipe 4 wide lines of filling lengthwise on top of the brownie batter. Spoon the remaining brownie batter in lines perpendicular to the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the filling into the batter.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until just barely done. Remove from oven and cool completely.
For the topping:
- Place the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl, heat the cream and corn syrup in a small glass measuring cup in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove just to boiling and pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for 2-3 minutes, stir until smooth.12 ounce chocolate chips, 3 ounce heavy cream, 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- Whisk in vanilla and peanut butter until completely blended. Spread over the cooled brownies and allow to set.1 teaspoon vanilla, 6 tablespoon peanut butter
- Cut the brownies into 24 – 2 x 2 inch squares and serve, store leftovers in an air tight container.
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