By Brayden is two hundred and one weeks old. Eden is one year and seven weeks old. The peanut butter brownie cups are a small mini-muffin-tin-baked brownie with a small peanut-butter-and-confectioners-sugar filling.
Sunday I made two dozen.
Brayden has been the small enthusiastic-helper at the kitchen-counter on Sunday afternoons. He hands me ingredients. He stirs the small mixing bowl. He watches the small kitchen-process with the small intent-attention of the small kid-who-might-become-a-cook-someday. The small hereditary-pattern is in the small early-signs.
Eden has been the small attentive-baby-toddler. She watches her big-brother. She mimics the small ages-three-up-to-his behavior. The small younger-sibling shape is appearing in the small everyday-rhythm.
The catering-cookbook companion (the Pantry Rules companion) has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The two-cookbook online-store has become the small reliable-revenue-stream. The small third-cookbook is in the small mental-outline-stage but is not in active drafting.
Cody’s pop-up has continued to evolve. The small Tuesday-double-and-occasional-Wednesday rotation is now the small standard rhythm. The small annual revenue has crossed $100,000. Cody has been thinking about a small private-dining-room booking expansion using the small new expanded-space.
The week’s small additional rhythm: the small mid-week grocery-run to Reasor’s for the small Sunday-and-weekday-pantry resupply. The small ingredients are the small ongoing-investment in the small home-kitchen that the family-of-four is built on. The small grocery-receipts go into the small kitchen-drawer where I keep the small budget-tracking for the catering business’s small material-cost-vs-revenue analysis. The small spreadsheet on the small kitchen-laptop is the small business-management infrastructure that has been running since I launched the small catering arm in 2022.
Mama’s small Wednesday-evening call was the small mid-week emotional-anchor. Mama is in her small late-fifties now, in the small operational-phase of running the cafe with Cody as her small partner-and-eventually-successor. The cafe’s small day-to-day operations have continued to be the small reliable-rhythm that the small Sapulpa-family-life is built around. Cody has been managing the small new-staff onboarding. Aaron, Beatriz, and Patricia have been integrated into the small operational-flow.
The small Aunt-Linda Tuesday-visit-rhythm continues. She arrives at the small 2 PM mark. She holds whichever small child needs to be held. She drinks the small coffee I keep ready in the small French press. We talk through the small week’s family-news, the small Roy-update (Roy is in his small mid-late-sixties now, post-macular-degeneration adjustment, fully passenger now with Aunt Linda driving both), the small Harper-and-Hadley update, the small Bristow-cousins news.
The small Sunday-evening publishing-and-archiving ritual continues. The recipe gets photographed at the small three PM kitchen-light-window. The post gets drafted at the small four PM workspace at the kitchen-counter. The post gets the small final-pass-edit at the small five PM. The post publishes at seven PM. The small comments and emails come in across the small Sunday-night-and-Monday-morning window. The small ritual is the small spine of the small Recipe Spinoff blog operation.
The small Pantry Rules cookbook companion has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The small kayleeturnercatering.com online-store carries both cookbooks now. The small revenue from the small books is the small adjacent-stream to the small catering-arm revenue and Dustin’s small auto-shop income. The small three-stream household-financial-shape continues to be the small stable-structure the family-of-four has been building around.
Peanut Butter Brownie Cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 33 minutes | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease each cup well with nonstick spray.
- Make the brownie batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and granulated sugar until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and slightly glossy, about 1 minute.
- Add dry ingredients. Stir in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Make the peanut butter filling. In a small bowl, stir together the creamy peanut butter and powdered sugar until smooth and thick enough to hold a small scoop.
- Assemble the cups. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of brownie batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Place a rounded teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture in the center of each cup, pressing gently. Top with another tablespoon of brownie batter, spreading to cover the peanut butter.
- Bake. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the brownie portion (avoiding the peanut butter center) comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake — the cups will firm up as they cool.
- Cool and serve. Let the brownie cups cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Serve warm for a gooey center or at room temperature for a firmer texture.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 110mg