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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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe
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
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
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
I make these same kind of brownies, but I add cream cheese and an egg to the pb mix and it’s just pure awesomeness. 🙂 I also use regular sugar. I’ve been thinking about maybe using cream cheese and brown sugar to get a cookie type taste. I’m always experimenting with different flavors of the same recipes! 🙂
Oooooh that sounds awesome!
These look amazing! Chocolate and peanut butter are my weakness!
Thanks so much!! Mine too!
Some people are just cray cray! Glad you had these brownies to come home to – seriously, brownie perfection!
Thanks Trish!
DYING over these photos Dorothy! They’re amazing!!
Dorothy! I was seriously freaking out just reading this!! That would have scared the crap outta me!! I’m so glad it just turned out to be weirdo dad, and not a real creeper. These brownies look incredible. Love chocolate and peanut butter!!
Thanks Shawn!
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