These Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies bring salty peanut butter and rich chocolate together in a decadent fudgy treat. They have that perfect crackled top with a rich center and an extra swirl of peanut butter on top.
Weeknight-easy
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How to batch, store, and reheat for meal prep
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free treats later
Bonus: Simple swaps to match what’s in your pantry
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Perfect mix of sweet and salty – This peanut butter brownie recipe blends sweet and salty flavors to make a perfectly balanced dessert. I make sure to use salted peanut butter to really enhance the salty flavor.
- Crispy crackled top with a fudgy middle – All of the best brownie recipes have a crispy crackly top with a soft middle. This one is no exception. I also added peanut butter swirls to the crackled top.
- Customizable – If you don’t like peanut butter or you are allergic, use this peanut butter brownie recipe as a guide for any kind of nut butter. I love to make this recipe with creamy salted cashew butter.
Do you love brownies? Then you need to try my Flourless Double Chocolate Brownies recipe or my homemade brownie bite recipe!
Serving Suggestions
I hope that these brownies will become the recipe you reach for when you need a sweet salty snack or some comfort food. Peanut butter and chocolate is my comfort flavor combination so I like to make a batch to enjoy with a movie or a good book.
They are perfect for parties or gatherings of any kind. I love to serve them to guests with an afternoon coffee. They pair nicely with my chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies and a homemade latte.
I love to make a brownie sundae with a warm peanut butter brownie on the bottom, a big scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle and a few dollops of peanut butter and hot fudge on top.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – Rich and decadent brownies always start with melted butter. If you use salted butter here, be sure to omit the salt at the end.
- Semi sweet chocolate chips – I like to use chocolate chips for this recipe, but you can use 2oz of a semi sweet baking chocolate bar instead .
- Creamy peanut butter – creamy salted peanut butter is best for this recipe. If you only have unsalted peanut butter you can add extra salt at the end.
- Vanilla extract – this isn’t a necessary ingredient, but in my experience just a teaspoon vanilla extract adds a nice depth of flavor.
- Granulated sugar – plain granulated sugar results in the best texture and taste.
- Large eggs – use 2 room temperature eggs to whip with the sugar.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – you can use standard cocoa powder or dutch process cocoa powder. The dutch process cocoa will result in a darker chocolate brownie
- Salt – I like to add just a bit of extra saltiness to these peanut butter brownies so I add a 1/4 tsp of kosher sea salt to the batter at the end.
Ingredient Substitutions
This peanut butter brownie recipe is pretty straightforward, but there are a few swaps you can make to make it your own. I like to use a salted natural peanut butter, but you can use whatever peanut butter you like best. Skippy and jif peanut butter both make for an extremely fudgy brownie.
If you like a very dark and rich brownie, use dark chocolate chips and dutch process cocoa powder. I don’t recommend using brown sugar in place of the regular granulated sugar because it will increase the moisture content of the brownie batter.
Recipe Variations
Not a peanut butter fan? Swap out the peanut butter for any nut butter that you like! They would be delicious with almond butter, cashew butter or even a hazelnut butter. There is a mixed nut and seed butter blend that I like to get at Trader Joe’s that I think would be delicious when paired with chocolate.
You could also add mix ins to the final batter before baking. Mix in some chopped roasted peanuts for extra crunch or chocolate chips to make them extra rich and fudgy.
Really enhance the peanut butter chocolate taste and replace the peanut butter swirl on top with a homemade peanut butter frosting. Just mix a few big spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter into a classic butter cream.
How To Make
Step 1: Mix butter, peanut butter and Chocolate
To begin, preheat oven to 350F and grease or line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave or double boiler. Stir in the creamy peanut butter and vanilla extract (Image 1).
Step 2: Whip Eggs and Sugar and fold batter together
In a separate bowl combine the eggs and sugar and mix with an electric mixer or whisk attachment for a stand mixer until light and fluffy – about 3 minutes (Image 2).
Gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar with a flat spatula (Image 3). Fold in the cocoa powder and salt (Image 4).
Step 3: Pour into pan, drizzle with Peanut Butter and Bake
Pour the batter into the lined metal pan and smooth into an even layer with a rubber spatula. Drizzle extra peanut butter over the top and mix with a toothpick to make a swirl effect.
Place in the oven and bake at 350F for 28 minutes. Cool completely and then cut into squares.
Expert tip
If your brownies always get stuck to your knife when you cut them try this tip. Use a plastic knife!
Allow the brownies to cool completely and then use a plastic disposable knife to cut through them. Much less of the fudgy brownie batter will get stuck to a plastic knife.
Storage and Freezing
Allow the brownies to cool completely and then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To make them extra rich and fudgy I like to store them in the refrigerator.
You can freeze these chocolate peanut butter brownies for up to 3 months. I like to cut into squares before I place them in a freezer safe container. That way I can thaw them one at a time.
Check out these other Chocolate dessert recipes!
If you make these brownies please let me know in the comments or on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ stick unsalted butter ¼ cup
- 2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs – room temperature
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease or line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper
- Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave or double boiler. Mix in the creamy peanut butter and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl combine the eggs and sugar and mix with an electric mixer or whisk attachment for a stand mixer until light and fluffy – about 3 minutes.
- Gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar with a flat spatula. Fold in the cocoa powder and salt.
- Pour the batter into the lined pan and smooth into an even layer. Optional: Drizzle extra peanut butter over the top and mix with a toothpick to make a swirl effect.
- Place in the oven and bake at 350F for 28 minutes.
- Cool completely and then cut into squares
Recipe Notes
- I like to use creamy salted peanut butter for this recipe. if you use unsalted peanut butter, add an extra 1/4 tsp of salt.
- You can use cashew butter or almond butter in place of the peanut butter
- You can use 2oz of a semi sweet baking chocolate bar in place of the chocolate chips
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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