Halfway Homemade: PB & Pretzel Brownies

We don't always have time to try and pretend to be top chef. You know? (Or maybe it's only me who does that. Umm, nevermind.) Sometimes we just finished a particularly busy day at work and realize guests are coming over that night, like in an hour. Sometimes we just feel too brain dead to make something up or making something from scratch. It happens. Sometimes we realize when it's too late we are missing that one important ingredient we absolutley cannot substitue our way around. And sometimes we just want to bake something delicious and unfussy. Becuase it's just fun. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and every now and again I just want to—dare I say it—make box mix brownies!Whoever invented brownies really deserved a life time acheivement award if you ask me. I LOVE brownies. I love to make them from scratch when I can, but I also love a good ol' enhanced box mix recipe. Enhanced box mix recipes are exactly what they sound like: You add stuff to a box mix and bake. There are so many different varitions out there. Some of my favorites involve adding cans of soda (cherry cola chocolate cake will be happening at my house one day!). These brownies got enhanced with peanut butter chips and salty pretzels.Use any brownie box mix you like plus the ingredients it calls for. I usually reduce the amount of water called for by 1/2 to 1 tablespoon. Less water tends to make brownies more dense and less cake-like. I love a dense, gooey brownie. Then add a bag of peanut butter chips and a few handfuls of pretzels.Since I was using pretzel sticks I tried adding them in a kind of chevron pattern just for fun. Next time I think I will fill in the pattern so the entire top has pretzels. MORE PRETZELS. :) Another tip is I usually line the bottom of my pan with parchment paper before spraying in a little non-stick cooking spray along the bottom (over the parchment paper) and along the edges and inner corners of the pan. This makes getting the brownies out of the pan after baking much easier. Bake according to the box directions.