Peanut butter brownies are rich, delicious, crispy and buttery brownies with peanut butter filling and peanut butter chips in just 45 minutes!
Don’t get me wrong, chocolate brownies are amazing (look up my Fudge Iced Brownies, Salted Caramel Brownies or S’mores Brownies for proof), but sometimes you have to try something new.
PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES
Peanut butter brownies are the rich, delicious dessert that you didn’t know you needed in your life. People seriously love brownies, not matter the size, shape or flavor. To prove my point, America has not one, not two, but three holidays dedicated to this delicious dessert.
For more delicious peanut butter desserts, next time you should try my recipes for Peanut Butter Fudge, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies or classic Peanut Butter Cookies.
HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES
- Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 inch pan.
- Cream together peanut butter, butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs then dry ingredients.
- Add in peanut butter chips then put into baking dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
For a delicious dessert, serve up the peanut butter brownies with a scoop of homemade Vanilla Ice Cream or a dollop of homemade Whipped Cream.
VARIATIONS
- Chocolate peanut butter brownies: for a brownie that tastes like a giant peanut butter cup, add some cocoa powder to the mixture before you bake it. For a marbled effect that will give you peanut butter swirl brownies, stir chocolate chips into the batter.
- Jam/Jelly: Add dollops of your favorite jam or jelly into the batter and swirl to make a peanut butter and jelly bar.
- Powdered sugar: sprinkle over the top of your brownies to give them a high end bakery look.
- Gluten free: for gluten free brownies, replace the all purpose flour with almond flour and adjust the cooking time.
- Nuts: instead of using creamy peanut butter, use chunky. This will give you brownies with chopped nuts already mixed in for no extra work. You can also crush up some peanuts to dust on the top as a garnish.
Create a free account to Save Recipes
Fun Facts: The original recipes for brownies had no chocolate in them, so one guess is that the molasses used in the original recipe dyed the dessert a deep golden brown.
December 8th is National Brownie Day, January 22 is National Blonde Brownie Day and February 10th is National Have a Brownie Day. If that didn’t convince you, the biggest brownie ever made was 3,000 lbs and was made 850 lbs of sugar, 500 lbs of butter, 750 lbs of chocolate chips and 500 lbs of all purpose flour.
If you want to try something a little lighter than a 3,000 lb chocolatey brownie, try my recipe for light, delicious peanut butter brownies that are perfect for parties, brunch or just for a treat with a cup of coffee.
Peanut Butter Brownie Tips:
If you’re going for a particular consistency in your brownie, here are some helpful tips.
- Cake brownies: if you want the brownies to be extra light and fluffy, use less flour and no baking powder. Be a little careful because this will alter the cooking time slightly. You can also use melted butter to make the brownies denser.
- Fudgy brownies: to make brownies that are essentially peanut butter fudge, use more butter and less flour.
- Chewy brownies: if you want your brownies to have a chewier texture, use more eggs and more peanut butter.
How to Store Peanut Butter Brownies:
- Serve: brownies are okay at room temperature for about 3 days before they start getting really stale.
- Store: put your brownies in the fridge to keep them moist longer. They will still start to get gross at the 4 day mark though.
- Freeze: brownies stay frozen really well. You can freeze them for up to 3 months and they’ll thaw out perfectly.
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter , (smooth, not natural style)
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar , packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with baking spray.
- In your stand mixer cream together the peanut butter, butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla until fully combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and peanut butter chips until just combined and no white powder remains.
- Spread into baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes then let cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
my family loves these. thanks so much for the recipe!!
i just took them out of the oven. i tried your idea for pb & j bars, look really good and smell like heaven. we’ll see what the kids and husband have to say. thanks!
Thank you! I have literally been looking for years for a recipe like this. Back when I was in grammar school in the 1970’s this was one of my favorite cafeteria foods. My mom worked as a cook in the school cafeteria but she didn’t remember how to make it. I have been looking internet for years for a recipe. Thanks you for posting it!
You’re welcome!
I have a fudgy brownie recipe with the ooey-gooey, fudgy texture that I love. If I change the following measurements of the peanut butter brownies to match the measurements of my fudgy brownie recipe, will I get the same texture?
fudgy brownies use 1/2 c. flour; 2 c. white sugar; 3 eggs; 1 1/4 c. butter; and no baking powder.
That would be hard for me because I don’t know your whole recipe for the brownies. I don’t see the chocolate listed. If you added the list of ingredients to peanut butter I am afraid you would likely not have enough structure for the brownie to set, it would be more fudge than brownie. With 1 cup flour you’d probably be closer. Sorry I can’t be more precise! Happy Thanksgiving!
Lol at myself!
1st) It never occurred to me that the measurement of cocoa would possibly affect the information about how to adapt your recipe so that I would have a place to start to achieve the ooey-gooey fudgy chewy characteristics in the peanut butter brownie that I am so enamored with in my fudgy brownie.
2nd) and most importantly, I slowed down & took the time to read through the whole post again as well as the comments.
I found the post that you addressed the flour & butter measurements for fudgy peanut butter brownies.
I also saw the post about an extra egg & additional 1/2 c. of peanut butter. I was tickled pink to find it & even more tickled pink when there were no adjustments to the recipe to accommodate the additional peanut butter.
It is a win-win-win for me.
Last, but not least, Thank You for sharing the fun facts about brownies, ways to “tweak” this recipe to personalize them, and that you take the time to respond to the posts.
I am looking forward to seeing what else you have shared.
You are awesome. Thank you so much for all the kind words! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe and I am happy to help in any way I can. 🙂
How much cocoa should I use to make the chocolate peanut butter brownies?
I’d add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Enjoy!
For the fudge like brownies, you say more butter, less flour. How should I alter the amount of each?
I’d suggest using 3/4 cups of butter and only 1 cup of flour. Make sure not to overtake them too. Good luck!
Would you be able to switch out the peanut butter chips with chocolate chips?
Sure 🙂
Peanut but is my absolute favorite and these sound incredible! Do you have any good egg replacement ideas that I could use in this recipe?
Though I haven’t tested it with this recipe, you could try replacing the eggs with 1/2 cup of mashed banana, applesauce or ground flax seed mixed with water. I’d love to know how it turns out if you decide to try. Thanks!
The instructions do not say anything about vanilla yet it is listed in ingredients. I just realized I never used the vanilla after I put it in the oven. Hope it’s not really needed.
Oh no, sorry about that. It just adds a bit of sweetness to them. I hope you still enjoyed them. I did edit the recipe card to include it in with the eggs. Thanks for letting me know.
These squares were absolutely delicious. The whole family loved them. Definitely a keeper.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I only have a question, Do you use all purpose flour or self rising flour? It has been a while since I made these and I don’t know which I used.
All-Purpose 🙂
These turned out amazing!! I added one extra egg and 1/2 cup more of peanut butter and they were the perfect, chewy consistency. Definitely saving this recipe!
Mmm that sounds even better! Thanks for sharing and glad you enjoyed!
Is there any way I can use natural peanut butter? I have a few bottles I need to use up. Here are the ingredients: peanuts, wildflower honey, organic coconut oil and sea salt.
I hope I can. Please let me know!
thx
You can but know it may change the texture and the flavor (sometimes you need adjust the salt depending on the natural PB)
These are heavenly! Made them for a potluck and had none left, the best compliment!
I’d call that a winner!
I can’t even begin to tell you how much my kids loved these. So good!
Yay!! Kid approved!
These are absolutely amazing. LOVE!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are to die for. The soft inside is so delicious with the crispy outside.
The perfect combination!
Can you substitute chocolate chips for the peanut butter chips? Thank you.
Sure 🙂
These are so perfectly chewy and just totally amazing! Make these!
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed them.