You know the feeling... You have three exams to face within the next 72 hours. Your textbooks and your notebooks are spread around you, along with flash cards and post-it notes, and your laptop screen is about two inches from your nose, and your fingers have been gripping your calculator so hard that your knuckles have turned white. You have no idea what time it is right now, but you think the sky might be starting to lighten.

Which means it is about time to give up and go to bed. Or freak out and force yourself to keep studying because you still care about grades too much for your own good. Or maybe it is time to question everything you are doing since one grade in one class is not going to make you or break you for life or haunt you until death.

You are stuck. You feel exhausted. Your brain is fried, and your mind is racing; nothing important is going in, and nothing at all is staying in.

You hear your stomach grumble.

Then you drop your calculator and slam your laptop shut. Time to take a break, i.e. time to procrastibake!

Let me see... You need something sweet and something salty, a little bit of chocolate and a little bit of protein, plus a whole lotta good... I got it!

Fudgiest Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownie Ever

INGREDIENTS:

Chocolate chips - 10oz or 12oz bag

Creamy peanut butter - 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup

Eggs - 3 large ones

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp to 1 1/2 tsp

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Sea salt - 1 pinch

Pretzels

MATERIALS:

Oven - 325°F to 350°F

Baking pan - ungreased

Mixing bowl - microwave safe

Mixing utensil - e.g. fork

Rubber scraper - optional but useful when removing batter from bowl

Measuring cups - optional and unneeded, unless you prefer baking with them

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven.

2. Put chocolate chips and peanut butter in mixing bowl. To melt both, place mixing bowl in microwave, and heat for about 30 seconds. Remove bowl from microwave, and mix chocolate and peanut butter. Return bowl to microwave, and heat for 12 seconds. Mix chocolate and peanut butter. Heat for 12 seconds. Repeat until mixture is pretty smooth and mostly free from chocolate-chip-size lumps.

3. Beat in eggs.

4. Stir in vanilla extract, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

5. Crush enough pretzels to cover entire bottom of baking pan then spread brownie batter mixture evenly on top.

6. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until you can poke center of brownie without getting batter on your fingertip.

7. Cool then serve.

Note: If you are allergic to peanuts, then substitute peanut butter with 1 large ripe banana, 1/2 to 3/4 cup applesauce, or 1 15oz can pumpkin. Add ingredient after chocolate chips have been melted.