Combine all the things you love about brownies and cookies and you get these delicious peanut butter stuffed salted brownie cookies! They’re cookie shaped and have cookie-like crispy edges and have the crackly tops and fudgy, chewy middles you love about brownies. A hefty pinch of flaky sea salt brings out all the chocolate flavor and the peanut butter middles takes these into dessert territory. They’re easy to make and are just so good!
ABOUT BROWNIE COOKIES
Who doesn’t love brownies?! Based on the the number of brownie recipes here on Parsley and Icing, my love for them is obvious! There are my creamy tahini brownies, avocado brownies (I know it sounds weird, but they’re sooooo good), and most recently these insanely good banana brownies!
Recipes for brownie cookies already exist, but I felt compelled to make my own for a couple of reasons. The first being that maybe some of my friends have not tried brownie cookies and I wanted to spread the word and share how to make them.
The second reason for this recipe was because I had to try stuffing brownie cookies with peanut butter! So glad I did! Since peanut butter and chocolate go so well together, the peanut butter only makes these cookies even more intensely flavorful!
INGREDIENTS FOR BROWNIE COOKIES
- Butter: With salt added to the batter and sprinkled on top of the cookies, it’s best to use unsalted butter.
- Chopped chocolate: I both chopped dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate. Use all of one or some of both like I did.
- Chocolate chips: In addition to the melted chocolate, I like to add some semisweet chocolate chips to the dough. These add nice little chocolatey bites to the cookies once baked.
- Cocoa powder: You can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder and or Dutch processed.
- Baking powder: Use one teaspoon as a leavening agent.
- Flour: I am running low on flour these days, so luckily these only take one cup!
- Sugars: I used both granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. I like dark brown for the extra molasses flavor, but light brown can be used too. Alternatively, you can also simply use all granulated sugar.
- Eggs: Use two large room temperature eggs.
- Sea salt: A sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of each cookie helps balance out the sweetness of the cookies. Sprinkle it on either just before or right after baking.
- Peanut butter middles: Since peanut butter and chocolate are an amazing flavor combo, stir together some peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar and a pinch of salt for the yummiest stuffed cookies. These definitely remind me of my old fashioned peanut butter balls, but are a little less work. Cookies can be made without the peanut butter middles, but I highly recommend making them with peanut butter!
HOW TO MAKE BROWNIE COOKIES
In order to get those cool crinkly tops, you want to make sure to have all your ingredients ready so that the cookies can get formed and baked as soon as the dough is mixed.
The first thing you’ll do is prepare the peanut butter stuffing. Fix this first so that it has time to chill in the fridge. Chilling the little peanut butter ball mixtures easier to pick up and stick inside the cookie scoop.
Next, take care of the other usual items: preheat the oven, line baking sheets with parchment paper, whisk to combine the dry ingredients and melt the butter and chopped chocolate. I even like to measure out my chocolate chips so that I have them ready to mix in and don’t have to measure them out mid-mixing. Have your eggs at room temperature and within reach of your mixer.
Once you’ve got everything prepped, get your eggs, sugars and vanilla going in the mixer. Definitely let them mix for the full five minutes. After five minutes, fold in the butter and chocolate mixture, followed by the dry ingredients. Lastly fold in the chocolate chips (if using) til just combined.
Fill a large cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop half way with batter then drop a peanut butter ball in and fill the rest of the scoop with the brownie cookie batter. Drop the cookies on your baking sheet and top with a sprinkle of sea salt. Bake until the edges are set and the tops are crinkly. Let the cookies cool a bit (10-15 minutes) on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
These peanut butter stuffed salted brownie cookies are definitely bakery style looking and tasting! Enjoy them while they’re still warm or at room temperature. Either way, you’ll get crinkly, fudgy, chocolately, peanut buttery chewiness in every bite!
FOR MORE COOKIE RECIPES, TRY MY:
Peanut Butter Stuffed Salted Brownie Cookies
Ingredients
- FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 5 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cups chocolate chips semi-sweet or dark
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
- In a small bowl, soften butter for a few seconds in the microwave. Ideally, the butter should be softened to the point that it's easy to stir and mix in with the powdered sugar.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the peanut butter, softened butter, powdered sugar and salt. Mixture will be sticky, but you should be able to form it into balls. If it's too sticky or liquidy, place it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until it becomes thicker and easier to work with.
- Form 17 balls the size of 1 teaspoon and place them on a small wax paper lined baking sheet. Place the balls in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Chilling the peanut butter balls will make them easier to work with.
- FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the butter to a medium saucepan and heat it over medium low until it's melted. Remove pan from the heat. Add the dark and semisweet chopped chocolate and stir until it's melted and combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a handheld mixer on medium high speed, mix the eggs, sugars and vanilla for 5 minutes, until mixture thickens.
- With the mixer on low speed, pour in the melted chocolate-butter mixture and mix until combined and smooth. Remove bowl from mixer stand and use a spatula gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix. Add in the chocolate chips.
- Fill an ice cream scoop half way with batter. Place one peanut butter mixture ball in the scoop and fill the rest of the scoop with cookie dough. Drop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Place them 3″ apart.
- Sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt and bake 10-12 minutes until the center is just set. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before then transferring them to a rack to cool.
Barbara Briggs Ward
Sound Yummy. Must get baking!
Natalie
Thank you! They are amazingly good! Hope you’ve had the chance to make them!!