Buckeye Brownies

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

7 Comments

16 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Cool 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
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Buckeye Brownies are made with layers of moist, fudgy chocolate brownies, creamy peanut butter, and an easy chocolate glaze.

Buckeye Candies are a classic American treat originating in Ohio. The original recipe is a ball of peanut butter fudge dipped into chocolate fudge. This Brownie Recipe takes the same flavors and makes them into easily shareable bar treats perfect for a potluck or bake sale.

Buckeye Brownies in stack

BUCKEYE BROWNIES

Easy, fudgy Buckeye Brownies are the perfect dessert to share with family and friends. The next time you have a potluck, party, or family get-together this brownie recipe is the perfect dish to serve. The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is always a crowd favorite, and they’re easy to make!

This recipe is made in three layers, but none of them are difficult. The Chocolate Brownie base is topped off with a fluffy peanut butter layer. Then you spread Chocolate Ganache over the top to finish. While this recipe takes almost 2 hours to make start to finish, most of that time is just leaving the brownies to cool between each layer. The actual hands-on time is quite easy, and well worth any effort.

Buckeye Brownies brownie layer before and after baking

WHY ARE THEY CALLED BUCKEYE BROWNIES?

These brownies get their name from the peanut butter candy recipe that inspired them. The candies are made with the peanut butter center just peeking out from the chocolate coating. The round candies resembled a nut from a buckeye tree, which is how they got their name. 

MORE BROWNIE RECIPES

TIPS FOR MAKING BUCKEYE BROWNIES

  • Prep time: Start the recipe by preheating the oven and coating the baking dish in nonstick cooking spray. 
  • Brownie layer: Add melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract to your mixing bowl. Whisk together until the wet ingredients are smooth. Then add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix the brownie batter until there are no more white streaks from the flour. Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread it out evenly with a rubber spatula. 
  • Peanut butter layer: Add the peanut butter and butter to your stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until they are light and creamy. Turn the speed to low and add the powdered sugar and water. Use a tablespoon-sized scoop to spoon the peanut butter mixture evenly over the brownie batter in 16 spots. 
  • Baking time: Bake the Buckeye Brownies for 25-30 minutes. To test if they’re done insert a toothpick in the middle of the brownies. If it comes out with moist crumbs on it, take the brownies from the oven. Let them cool for 20 minutes before adding the chocolate ganache. 
  • Chocolate glaze: Add chocolate chips and butter to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave them at 50% power in 30-second increments. Stir in between microwaving sessions and continue until it’s melted and smooth. Pour and spread the chocolate mixture over the brownies. 
  • Chill: Refrigerate the brownies for a full hour before slicing and serving.

Buckeye Brownies collage of peanut butter layer and chocolate ganache layer

VARIATIONS ON BUCKEYE BROWNIES

  • Peanut butter: To get a different texture in the peanut butter balls you can use crunchy peanut butter or mix whole peanuts into the mixture. 
  • Brownie mix: To save some time, you can use a box mix brownies for the base. You can follow the package directions exactly, or make a few easy changes to improve them. A couple of tricks to make brownie mix taste more homemade is using melted butter to replace the vegetable oil, and milk instead of the water called for. 
  • Mix-ins: For some easy, and tasty add-ins try mixing chocolate chips into the brownie batter. Semisweet, dark, milk or white chocolate would all taste great. You could also top the dish off with nuts, crushed pretzels, Reese’s Pieces, or toffee bits. 

MORE PEANUT BUTTER RECIPES

HOW TO STORE BUCKEYE BROWNIES

  • Serve: Let the Buckeye Brownies cool before you slice and serve them.
  • Store: If you cover the leftovers, they’ll be good in a dry cool place for 2-3 days. You can also cover them to store in the fridge for up to 1 week. 
  • Freeze: To freeze the brownies cut them into squares and put them in a Ziploc bag with the layer separated by parchment paper. They’ll stay good in the freezer for 2-3 months.

top-down view of Buckeye Brownies in stack

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Dinner, then Dessert

Buckeye Brownies

Buckeye Brownies are made with layers of moist, fudgy chocolate brownies, creamy peanut butter, and an easy chocolate glaze.
Yield 16 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Buckeye Brownies in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Brownie:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Buckeye Filling:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water

Chocolate Glaze:

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter

Instructions

Brownie:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with baking spray.
  • Whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
  • Whisk in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder.
  • Spread batter evenly into a greased baking pan.

Buckeye Filling:

  • To your stand mixer add the butter and peanut butter on medium speed until creamy.
  • At low speed add in powdered sugar and water until creamy.
  • Spoon 1 tablespoon-sized spoonfuls over the batter in 16 spots evenly.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes then let cool for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Glaze:

  • In a microwave-safe bowl add the chocolate chips and butter and microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments until completely melted.
  • Stir until well combined.
  • Pour over the baked brownies.
  • Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 86mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 483IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Buckeye Brownies

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Buckeye Brownies collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  2. Hi Sabrina-Should the peanut butter filling be spread on the brownies after they have baked and cooled for 20 minutes? The comments in your blog post say the layers should cool but the recipe calls for adding the PB filling on top of the brownie batter and then baked. Thank you

    Reply

  3. Hi there! Just to make sure I’m reading correctly – the peanut butter layer gets baked as well? Just was curious if it goes onto raw brownie batter or on top of the already baked brownie? Every recipe I look at does not bake the peanut butter layer, but yours looks the best, haha! So I wanted to make sure I do it however you made yours! Thank you!

    Reply

  5. Yum, I am curious if I could substitute cream cheese for the butter in the buckeye filling or will that compromise the texture?

    Reply

    1. Yes, it would, but I can’t speak to how because I’ve never tested it. I realize this comment is very old, so I am so sorry for the delay in replying.

      Reply