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These Peanut Butter Brownies are some of the best brownies in the world: They’re a rich and decadent brownie recipe topped with a gooey peanut butter topping. They’re epically fudgy and rich and the perfect brownie recipe for peanut butter lovers!

stacked brownies with peanut butter on top.


Peanut Butter, and Chocolate…It’s an obvious pairing. There really isn’t anything better than and warm and soft brownie swirled with an amazing peanut butter topping. Brownies like this one will stay at the front of your mind forever!

I have a lot of brownie recipes that I have made over the years, and this Peanut Butter Brownie Recipe is my standard brownie recipe with a peanut butter swirl layer on top.

ingredients in peanut butter brownies laid out on a white marble counter.

Peanut Butter Brownies Ingredients

  • Chocolate: I used melted unsweetened baking chocolate, and cocoa powder. You can use regular cocoa powder, or you can use Dark Cocoa Powder.
  • Butter: I always start with unsalted butter, but if you use salted butter reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon.
  • Sugar: This recipe uses two kinds of sugar; granulated and powdered sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and powdered sugar (or confectioners sugar) is a base for the topping.
  • Peanut Butter: The peanut butter mixture is swirled on top the brownies. Be sure to use a no-stir (not natural) peanut butter. You can use any nut butter that’s no-stir.

Variations

  • Add some chocolate chips to the brownie base.
  • You can swap brown sugar for the granulated sugar in the brownie layer.
process shot of peanut butter brownies being made.
process shot of peanut butter brownies being made.
process shot of peanut butter brownies being made.

How to make Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

  • Place baking chocolate and butter in a large, microwave safe bowl. Heat and stir until chocolate is smooth. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and cocoa and stir well. Add flour and stir carefully. Spread brownie batter in prepared baking pan.
  • Stir together peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
  • Drop spoonfuls on top of the brownies then swirl with a butter knife or the back of a wooden spoon.
  • Bake until the center seems set. Let cool before cutting.
stacked brownies with peanut butter on top.

Expert Tips

  • You could add another frosting on top, like a chocolate ganache or peanut butter frosting for even more flavor.
  • I have only made this recipe with shelf stable peanut butters (like skippy and jif). If you made this recipe with natural peanut butter – there is a chance the recipe could not work so be sure to use a no-stir peanut butter.
  • You can line your pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, but I like lining pans for easy slicing and removal.
  • I recommend baking in metal pans for best results.

Storage & Freezing

Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. You can freeze brownies for up to 3 months.

stacked brownies with peanut butter on top.

Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe

4.26 from 27 votes
Rich and fudgy brownies with a peanut butter swirl! These are some serious brownies!

Recipe Video

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 16 brownies
Serving Size 1 serving
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Ingredients
 

For the Brownies

  • 4 ounces (113g) unsweetened baking chocolate coarsely chopped
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons (10g) Dutch-process cocoa powder (or regular unsweetened)
  • 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour

For the peanut butter swirl:

  • ½ cup 133g) peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
  • ⅓ cup (38g) powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×9-inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
  • Place baking chocolate and butter in a large, microwave safe bowl. Heat on HIGH power for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and cocoa and stir well. Add flour and stir carefully. Spread batter in prepared pan.
  • Stir together peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Drop spoonfuls on top of the brownies then swirl with a butter knife or the back of a wooden spoon.
  • Bake about 28-35 minutes, until the center seems set. Let cool before cutting.

Recipe Notes

  • You can use Dutch-process or regular unsweetened cocoa powder
  • This recipe has only been tested with shelf stable (not natural) peanut butter.
  • Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or you can freeze them.
  • I recommend baking in metal pans.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 362IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.26 from 27 votes (21 ratings without comment)

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102 Comments

  1. Ohhhh, Dorothy. Dangerous, dangerous. But so delicious. I want to make these RIGHT NOW. But my belly is already sickly full of sweets. So these will wait. But, oh boy, are they going to the top of the list!

    Reply

  2. I don’t like peanut butter in my chocolate, but I’ m always looking for a good brownie recipe! And about the flip-flops, I’m with you. When I was a teenager I would even wear them to basketball games, in January, at night, in the tule fog. Maybe we are channelling our inner Hawaiian!

    Reply

    1. This is my favorite one Laurie! Use a 9×9 or a 9×13 pan, regular cocoa or dark. They’re so good! It’s funny, that lady is OBSESSED with them. She’s one of those older ladies who is very…proper? (i.e. judgmental) and I don’t think that she approves of jeans and sweatshirts either. 🙂

      Reply

  3. I accidently put my twitter username on the pinterest Nikki Gladd instead of my pinterest name. It switched on me from twitter to pinterest and I hit enter before I could stop. 🙁 It is not couponinglsb it is teachinmomma123.

    Reply

  4. Wow, these look great. I can’t believe this post…yesterday on my walk I was thinking about something similar & was going to ask you if you’d ever made brownies and just taken scoops of pb mixed with a little of the brownie mixture and swirl it in (light you do for a marble cake). I was thinking that it sounded really good and then I see this!!!! lol

    Reply

  5. melted unsweetened and semi-sweet, and cocoa powder. = YES PLEASE
    and how does Jordan not like chocolate? I guess that’s not that uncommon b/c if it’s dark/bitter it can be a little much…thankfully my taste-tester loves her chocolate 🙂

    These are the best brownies you’ve ever made. I mean I know it’s the same base, but the photos truly convey! Pinned!

    Reply

    1. Thank you Averie! 🙂 And she’s just funny about dark chocolate. I think she likes it, she’s scared of it, lol.

      Reply