Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

With creamy peanut butter swirled into chocolate deliciousness, these peanut butter swirled brownies are proof that peanut butter and chocolate are one of the best combinations ever! You’ll love their gooey, silky texture that’s made all the more flavorful and decadent with peanut butter on top!

ABOUT PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES

These amazing no bake peanut butter butterscotch bars that I made recently are SO good. They made me realize I didn’t have a peanut butter brownie recipe on my blog! The horror-I know! I got on that, pretty much immediately though and now am proud to share these chocolate peanut butter brownies.

RECIPE INSPIRATION

To make these brownies, I decided to keep it simple and use my super delicious tahini brownie recipe. I swapped out the tahini for peanut butter and added a little melted butter to the peanut butter and powdered sugar swirl mixture. The result: incredibly good brownies with buttery, crispy edges, gooey chocolatey middles and creamy sweet peanut butter flavor!

The peanut butter adds a similar creaminess and nuttiness and adds its own unique peanut butter flavor! One other plus to making a peanut butter variation is the fact that peanut butter is generally easier to find than tahini.

HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES

In addition to preheating the oven to 350 F, there are a few of other things I like to do first off. One of those things is buttering and lining an 8″ pan with parchment paper. It’s a good idea to leave at least an inch of excess parchment on two sides of the pan. You’ll be able to use it to easily lift the brownies out of the pan later on.

It’s also a good idea to melt the butter and chocolate right away so that it has time to cool before adding it to the eggs and sugar mixture. You can use a double boiler for this, but I find the microwave easier.

To make it easier/faster to melt, cut the butter into cubes and chop the chocolate. Combine them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them for 20 seconds at a time. Stir well in between intervals and continue until melted.

The other thing you’ll want to prepare is the topping. Peanut butter is super creamy and delicious as is, but it’s nice to add a little sweetness to it since we’re using it in a dessert recipe here. We’ll also add a little butter to help it more rich and spreadable.

ASSEMBLING THE BROWNIE BATTER

Next you’ll want to prepare your dry ingredients. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and salt and set aside.

You’ll notice there’s no baking powder in this recipe. We’re going for rich, dense brownies rather than cakey brownies, so that’s why we’re leaving the baking powder out. Leaving the baking powder out means the brownies won’t rise too much and will leave them nice and gooey.

Next, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars in a large bowl for about a minute or until mixture becomes pale and creamy. Whisk in the vanilla, followed by the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and the chocolate-butter mixture. Use a wooden spoon or a spatula to gently stir in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined then pour into the prepared pan. Be careful not to overmix!

PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL

Now for the fun part! Grab the peanut butter-powdered sugar and a teaspoon. Scoop up a spoonful of the topping and drizzle it in little squiggles over top of the brownie batter. A piping bag or zip lock bag with a corner snipped off can also be used to spread the mixture over top.

Next, use a toothpick or the tip of a knife to gently make swirls in the batter. Do just a few swirls in each section as you make your way across the mixture. Be careful not to over-swirl or you won’t get the cool marbled look. 

Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs when inserted in the middle of the brownies. Do not wait until it comes out with no crumbs. 

LETTING THE BROWNIES COOL

The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for the brownies to cool before breaking into them! They look and smell so good when you take them out of the oven, but it’s definitely a good idea to let them cool for an hour or two. Cool them at room temperature or in the fridge.

Allowing the brownies to cool before cutting them means they’ll hold together better when you cut them. You’ll also have less of them all stuck to the knife. Believe it or not, their flavor develops even more while they cool, so do your best to be patient!

HOW TO CUT BROWNIES

Use the parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan before cutting into them. I prefer to cut these into 9 big squares. That means almost every piece gets lots of the gooey middle and the crispy, buttery, crusty edge! You can also cut them into smaller squares.

Cut them into thirds and then rotate them and cut into thirds again if you want 9 pieces. For smaller pieces, cut the brownies in half down the middle and then in half on both sides. Rotate the brownies and do the same thing (cut them down the middle and then down the middle of the two sides).

It’s best to use the biggest knife you have to cut your brownies. If you have one that is as long as the length of the brownies, that’ll allow you to just cut straight down through the brownies instead of dragging the knife through. You basically want to cut the sections with as little motion as possible and to avoid using a sawing motion.

To lessen the likelihood of having some of the brownies stick to the knife, spray your knife with a little cooking spray, wipe it with a damp cloth, or stick it under warm water in between cutting sections.

These peanut butter swirl brownies have buttery, crispy edges and ooey, gooey chocolatey middles. They will satisfy everyone’s chocolate, peanut butter, or chocolate-peanut butter and happen to be super easy to make!

IN THE MOOD FOR MORE PEANUT BUTTER? CHECK OUT THESE:

• Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Butterscotch Balls
• No Churn Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups
• The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
• Banana Muffins with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips

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