Why they’re so good
For these chocolate peanut butter brownies, I took my fudgiest brownie recipe and made it fudgier, then added peanut butter. Indulgent and incredibly delicious, make sure you have a glass of milk on hand for these amazing brownies. They have a wonderful fudgy and slightly chewy texture whilst being perfectly moist and so rich.
Homemade from scratch, they taste like peanut butter cups and are the perfect treat for peanut butter and chocolate lovers.
You’ll love this no bake chocolate peanut butter cheesecake too.
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Ingredients
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
Butter: I use unsalted butter. If you use salted butter, cut down the added salt to just ¼ teaspoon.
Chocolate: I find baking chocolate perfect for these brownies. It melts to a lovely fluid consistency and melts quickly so that it doesn’t overheat. You can use a block that you’d use for eating. I advise against using chocolate chips, since they have additives that help them maintain their shape meaning, depending on the brand, you may need to overheat them to melt them.
Sugar: Just one sugar for these brownies – white granulated sugar or caster sugar (superfine sugar). Not powdered sugar.
Eggs: Use large eggs, free-range if you are able.
Vanilla extract: A good hit of vanilla extract intensifies the chocolate in these pb brownies.
Flour: All you need is plain flour (all purpose flour).
Cocoa powder: You can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder.
Peanut butter: Use a classic smooth peanut butter – the type that does not separate. Don’t use the natural kind – the type where the oil separates – or it will just make your brownies greasy. You can use crunchy peanut butter too. Something like Skippy, Jif or Kraft brands are perfect.
How to make peanut butter brownies
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Melt the butter and chocolate
Start by melting the butter and chocolate together in a medium bowl in the microwave then set it aside to cool slightly.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar
Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick, pale and frothy. This helps to get that lovely crackly top on the brownies.
3. Add the chocolate mixture
Now add the chocolate-butter mixture and vanilla and beat that in too.
4. Add the dry ingredients
Sift in the flour, cocoa and salt to the wet ingredients and stir it through with a spatula until just combined.
5. The first layer
Add half of the brownie batter to the pan and make sure it’s level before adding chunks of peanut butter over the top.
6. The second layer
Spoon the remaining batter over the top and make sure it’s all leveled out. Now, heat a little peanut butter so that it’s runny and pour it over the top, finishing by swirling it with a knife.
Tips and tricks
- Eggs at room temperature will mix into the batter best.
- Don’t add the chocolate mixture hot – a little warm is fine, but make sure it’s not hot or you may just end up scrambling the eggs.
- I always recommend using a kitchen scale when measuring out ingredients like flour and cocoa. This is especially important with brownies since even a little bit too much can make them dry or cakey as opposed to fudgy brownies.
- Only mix enough to just combine everything once you add the dry ingredients. If you over mix, you might end up with dense and tough peanut butter brownies.
- When swirling the peanut butter, just run through it once or twice or you risk mixing it right into the batter.
- Allow the brownies to cool to room temperature before cutting with a sharp knife.
Serving and storage
These brownies are wonderful served at room temperature or just slightly warmed with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. If you store them in the fridge, you’ll get an extra chewy brownie.
It’s best not to slice brownies until you’re ready to serve so they don’t dry out inside.
Keep these chocolate peanut butter brownies stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
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Ingredients
- 142 g unsalted butter (5oz)
- 142 g dark chocolate (50% cocoa solids), roughly chopped (5oz)
- 1 ½ cups white granulated sugar (300g / 10 ½oz)
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 95 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (¾ cup / ~3 ½oz)
- 25 g unsweetened cocoa powder (¼ cup / ~¾oz)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup peanut butter (NOT natural) (200g/7oz)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- handheld electric beater
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with baking paper.
- Add the butter and chocolate to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring well between each, until the mixture is just melted and combined. Try not to overheat the mixture. You can also do this in a small saucepan over low heat on the stove, stirring regularly. Set aside to cool slightly.
- To a large bowl, add the sugar and eggs. Use a handheld mixer to beat the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until thick, fluffy and pale.
- Add the vanilla and the chocolate-butter mixture and beat until just combined.
- Place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and sift in the flour and cocoa. Add the salt, then gently stir until just combined.
- Pour half the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Using two teaspoons, dollop over ½ cup of the peanut butter in chunks, leaving the other ¼ cup for the topping.
- Spoon over the remaining batter so that it covers the peanut butter. Heat the remaining ¼ cup of peanut butter in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until runny then pour it over the top of the brownie batter. Swirl it with a knife.
- Bake the brownie for around 35 minutes. The top will be puffed up a bit and it won’t wobble when you give it a gentle shake. A toothpick should come out with some sticky batter, not wet or runny batter.
- Remove it from the oven. It will carry on baking from residual heat for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes, use the sides of the baking paper to gently lift the brownie out of the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- You can swap the peanut butter for cookie butter or a chocolate hazelnut spread too.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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4 Comments on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies”
Absolutely luscious! This recipe has become my grandkid and company go-to dessert.
My only modification, and probably due to my oven, is that I bake them for 45 minutes and they still come out nice and fudgy.
Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy you love them, Angie. The longer baking time could come down to the oven or even type of pan you’re using. So glad you found the perfect time for yours 🙂
Best brownies ever!
Thank you from a baker who thought she knew it all!
So happy you love them, Ang. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.