The extraordinary life of the average woman: Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough brownie cake

I have been looking around for new cake recipes since I made that strawberry cake a few weeks ago and it was such a huge hit! I found this heavenly dessert on life love and sugar (http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2014/03/26/peanut-butter-cookie-dough-brownie-layer-cake-recipe/) I did frost mine a little different than the original version but oh my was it an amazing dessert! The woman is a genius! It's perfect for a fancy get together or to impress some guest. I HIGHLY recommend serving it with ice cream. You'll need it or a glass of milk! Just looking at it makes my mouth water!

The original recipe doesn't frost the whole cake. Hers is a little more visually appealing but I would argue and say mine taste better!

Ingredients:

Brownie:

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup special dark cocoa (you can use regular)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

(If you don't want to make your own brownies you can use the box mix with 2 boxes of brownie mix)

Cookie Dough:

1 1/4 butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 tbsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3-4 tbsp milk

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate ganache:

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided

Peanut butter frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tablespoons milk

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Let's get started! First we want to make our brownie layers. Make sure you give your self enough time for the brownies to cool completely before assembling.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease 3 cake pans.

In a bowl, mix oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. In a separate bowl mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture until completely blended. (I recommend adding it in 3 parts). Pour the batter evenly into the 3 pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Set pans out to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the brownie layers onto a cooling rack to finish cooling off.

Now for my favorite layer, cookie dough! Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla. Slowly add in flour until well combine. Add milk to preferred thickness. Stir in chocolate chips (I added a little more than 1 cup)

Once the brownies are cooled it's time to assemble! Start preparing half of the chocolate ganache. Take 1/2 cup whipping cream and place it in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute or until boiling. Take 6 oz of chocolate chips and black them in a bowl. Pour the hot whipping cream over their chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap for 5-7 minutes. Stir chocolate until a nice thick chocolate layer. If chocolate is not thick, continue to let it set.

Okay now for layering! Take your first brownie layer and place it on a plate. Take 3 tbsp of chocolate ganache and spread it over the cake. Then take half of your prepared cookie dough and spread it over the ganache. Now place your second layer on top of the cookie dough. Take another 3 tbsp of ganache and spread it over the cake (think of the ganache as yummy chocolate glue) take the remainder of the cookie dough and spread it over the ganache. Top with your last brownie layer.

This looked good enough to eat by its self! The original recipe would have you pour chocolate ganache on the top and pipe some frosting on top. I wanted to go a different approach and boy was it yummy! I would recommend doing it either way!

I let the cake sit in the fridge while I made the frosting .

Cream together the butter and shortening. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar until well combined. Add milk to desired thickness.

Spread frosting on all sides of the cake.

Take your remaining heavy whipping cream and microwave it until boiling. Pour it over your remaining chocolate chips.

Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the peanut butter frosting.