Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like an even more flavorful Reese’s peanut butter cup!
Texture: Crazy rich, fudgy, and gooey.
Ease: Super strong peanut butter taste and texture, which is hard to achieve when baking with PB.
Pros: Fun twist on brownies for PB lovers.
Cons: None!!
Would I make this again? Yes yes and yes.
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I’m obsessed with peanut butter and have no shortage of peanut butter desserts in my recipe index. You guys know this already!
However, sometimes the most frustrating part of baking with peanut butter is that the intensity of that distinct nutty taste is subdued with baking.
Unless you’re making my No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake or Peanut Butter Frosting, you just lose some of that peanutty goodness once it enters the oven. Especially when you add another strong flavor like chocolate to the mix.
So I challenged myself to create Peanut Butter Brownies that maintained the integrity of the peanut flavor even after baking.
I thought about just topping chocolate brownies with a PB frosting or adding peanut butter chips to the brownie batter. But I wanted them to be ultra-rich, fudgy, and slightly gooey. I wanted them to be like a peanut butter cup, but with brownie instead of solid chocolate enrobing the PB. Because this is how my mind works.
So I came to the conclusion that stuffing the brownies with peanut butter would do the trick. But how do you prevent the peanut butter from melting into the batter as it bakes and losing its distinct taste and texture?
Well, you basically freeze a layer of peanut butter in advance of stuffing! Doing so gives you the best texture that peanut butter has to offer.
I got the idea from Recipe Tin Eats, who did the same thing but with Nutella!
So I took that technique and coupled it with PB and my favorite simple brownie base, and the results were nothing short of mouthwatering.
Make sure you have a glass of cold milk handy when serving. These babies are so thick, rich, and fudgy, they practically require it!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
How to Add Peanut Butter to Brownies
This is the fun part of this recipe! To get the best peanut butter flavor AND texture:
- Prepare the pan. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper. Create an overhang so that you can lift the sheet of peanut butter out of the pan and place it back in the freezer while you mix up the batter.
- Melt the peanut butter. Pour it into the prepared pan.
- Freeze. Place the pan of PB in the freezer until solid, about 1 hour.
- Prepare the brownie batter as directed below. Pour half the brownie batter into the pan. Top the batter with the frozen sheet of PB, then pour the remaining batter on top. Bake immediately!
- Please note: be sure to use conventional creamy peanut butter like Skippy or Jif. Any kind of “natural” peanut butter in which the oil separates won’t work in this recipe.
How to Make Fudgy Brownies
- The butter content in these brownies helps create a rich, fudgy brownie.
- The extra egg yolk adds even more richness.
- You’ll also notice there’s no baking soda or baking powder in this recipe. That’s because we’re making fudgy rich brownies, not cake.
- Whisking the eggs vigorously for a full minute as the recipe instructs will add enough air to slightly leaven the brownies without creating a cakey texture.
- Whatever you do, be sure not to accidentally over-measure the flour and cocoa powder. For perfect measurements and best results, weigh all ingredients with a digital kitchen scale.
- If you don’t have one, then lightly spoon each ingredient into the measuring cup and sweep off the excess. This will prevent you from compacting too much into the cup and creating dry brownies.
- Use a high-fat cocoa powder – learn more about high fat cocoa powders here.
- Don’t reduce the sugar – learn more about sugar’s role in baking brownies here.
- Additionally, try not to overbake your brownies to prevent them from drying out. I found the perfect bake time to be around 30 minutes in my oven.
Is Oil or Butter Better For Fudgy Brownies?
I recently experimented with Butter vs. Oil in brownies to see how the type of fat used affects the final result. The brownies made with butter were fudgier and softer than the oil brownies. There were also some shocking differences in the crusts of the two brownie batches! You’ll find this Peanut Butter Brownie recipe uses all butter for the perfect texture and flavor.
Check out my Butter vs. Oil in Baking article for a full breakdown of each of these fats and how they affect tenderness, flavor, and texture in baked goods (and not just brownies).
What Pan is Best For Baking Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies?
- A square light-colored metal baking pan like this one is always my go-to for any brownie recipe.
- Metal (namely high-quality heavy aluminized steel or anodized aluminum) conducts heat more quickly and efficiently than glass or ceramic pans.
- Avoid metal pans that are darkly colored as they conduct heat too aggressively and will likely lead to burnt or dried edges.
- If you must use a glass or ceramic pan please note that the texture of the brownies may become gummy or overly dense and they’ll likely take significantly longer to bake. You run the risk of the center never cooking through with glass or ceramic.
- Learn more in my Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans article.
Are Peanut Butter Brownies Supposed to be Gooey in the Middle?
- I like my brownies to remain slightly gooey and soft in the middle. Especially these ones since they’re stuffed with peanut butter!
- However, they should still bake up so they’re safe to eat and solid enough to eat by hand once cooled and sliced.
- Make sure to allow your brownies to cool completely if they seem gooey.
- I love eating brownies chilled, especially in the summertime! Cold brownies are super fudgy – give it a try!
- You can always let them cool, cut into squares, then nuke in the microwave if you want them so gooey they require a fork to eat.
How to Make Brownies with Shiny Thin Crust
You know that shiny, glossy, crinkly, tissue-thin crust on top of brownies? The key to achieving that crust requires dissolving your sugar properly! I share all my secrets for perfectly crinkly brownie tops here. And some surprising mistakes you may be making which prevent the brownie “skin!”
How to Get Perfect Brownie Slices
Science has shown our visual perception of food actually influences how tasty we perceive food to be. If you want to get perfectly clean, neat, and even brownie slices, check out my How to Cut Brownies Cleanly in 5 Steps article. Don’t worry – even if you don’t follow all these tips, your brownies will taste super delicious.
How to Store Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies:
- Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- They’ll become more like a thick fudge in the fridge in the most delicious way.
- You can also reheat the brownies in the microwave until they’re gooey again, if you’d prefer.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
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Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Ingredients
Peanut butter filling:
- 1 1/4 cups (336 grams) creamy conventional peanut butter (NOT 'natural')**
Brownies:
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter
- 4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
Make the peanut butter filling:
- Place the peanut butter in a heat-safe bowl and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or until pourable but not super hot.
- Line a metal 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang. Spread the peanut butter into an even layer in the pan. Freeze for 1 hour or until solidified. Use the parchment to remove from pan and return peanut butter sheet to freezer. Keep frozen while making the brownie batter.
Make the brownies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the square pan again with parchment paper, leaving an overhang.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and chocolate. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the sugar to the hot butter mixture and whisk vigorously until combined. Allow to cool until just barely warm.
- Add in eggs, yolk, and vanilla extract and whisk for about 1 minute, or until very well combined.
- Use a rubber spatula to stir in flour, cocoa powder, and salt until just combined.
- Pour half of the batter into prepared pan and smooth out. Carefully place the frozen peanut butter sheet over the batter. Pour remaining batter on top, covering completely.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through but still very slightly gooey in the center. Let cool in pan 30 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool for another 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Serving chilled makes the brownies extra fudgy!
Marvelous recipe for delicious brownies!
If I wanted to make the peanut butter brownies and a batch of plain brownies could I still us this recipe and leave out the peanut butter. Not trying to make two different recipes.
Hi Chris! I recommend instead trying Tessa’s Best Ever Chewy Brownies and perhaps add a peanut butter frosting to some, so you can easily please everyone? Let us know how it goes 🙂
Glad you honoured Nagi and her crew of Recipe Tin Eats for the technical resolve of melting ingredients. I think that is important to do.
Your recipe and site are enticing and i will definitely return.
Do you have any other ingredients with which you find yourself wonderfully obsessed? (Mine are pasta and cheeses, but my weigh scale and my doctor say they are not wonderful obsessions.) wrong! I just need more control of obsessions. Meanwhile… these gooey brownies with that thin cracked crust will run a very close second soon.
Hi Mare! Glad to hear that you enjoy Tessa’s scientific approach to baking! Tessa’s biggest flavor passions are definitely chocolate + peanut butter, as you see here, and also all things cookies and all things chocolate 🙂
Regarding doubling the recipe – would you please let me know if it’s a straight up doubling of all the ingredients – except cook time, which should remain the same using the larger pan? Thanks so much.
Hi Brenda! As Tessa mentioned at the bottom of the recipe, “To double this recipe, use a 9×13 pan and bake for the same amount of time.” This does means that all ingredients are simply doubled and there’s no need to adjust anything further. Please note that every oven is different and baking times are always more of a guideline, so follow the sensory indicator in the recipe over the bake time – so bake “until cooked through but still very slightly gooey in the center”. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I don’t know if I missed the reason, but why not natural peanut butter?
Hi Emery! Natural peanut butter can separate and become oily, but Tessa has recently experimented more with using natural peanut butter in her Peanut Butter Cookies, and found that it actually gives a stronger PB flavor in baking! As long as you stir the natural PB very, very well (so it’s totally cohesive, with no oily or dry bits), it should be fine to use in these brownies – we just haven’t had a change to test this out for ourselves yet to verify. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try! 🙂
Thanks for responding, I tried it and they turned out fine! I didn’t notice any separation.
Glad to hear that! 🙂
Can you put mini peanut butter cups in the brownies instead of the creamy peanut butter? and if you can, do I mix it with the brownies of layer it in the middle?
Hi Jackie! This recipe is designed to have a layer of actual peanut butter in the middle (you melt the peanut butter and then freeze until solid, then layer between the batter). If you’re looking to instead incorporate mini peanut butter cups, I would instead suggest trying out Tessa’s Best Chewy Brownies, and swap out the chocolate chips for mini peanut butter cups. Otherwise, Tessa’s copycat Cosmic Brownies would be delicious with mini peanut butter cups on top! 🙂
Whilst mine maintained structure enough to eat, when I pulled them out of the pan the brown was incredibly soft. My corners struggled to make it out of the pan, so I put it in the fridge to solidify and it was fine after that. Any idea why this could be?
Hi Trenton! It sounds like perhaps these were just a little underbaked. Once fully cooled, these should come out of the pan very easily. A few minutes longer in the oven would potentially have solved this issue! I also wonder what type of pan you’re baking the brownies in? Glass vs metal pans can make a big difference on the baked result, as Tessa shows in this article here. I hope that helps! 🙂
These look delicious! Just wondering if they will keep well in the freezer for a future event?
Hi Dawn! We haven’t tried that, but I’d imagine it’d work just fine if in an airtight container! You’ll want to thaw them in the fridge overnight before serving. Let us know what you think of this recipe when you give it a try 🙂
Yum! Truly a peanut butter lovers dessert! I doubled the recipe (followed exactly) and used a 9×13 pan. These brownies froze beautifully in an airtight container. I cut them into smaller squares when they were still slightly frozen, as they are very rich. Not only delicious, but they looked picture perfect on a serving tray. Thank you for the great recipe!
Yay! So happy to hear that you enjoyed these brownies, Dawn!
I am IN LOVE! I have never been able to make good brownies UNTIL NOW! Thank you for this recipe and all the tips and tricks and for ALL the knowledge you impart.
Used Nutella instead of peanut butter and it was amazing! I won’t use as much Nutella next time, was a bit much, but really can’t complain as it was still delightful! I had to cook an extra 12 minutes than what the recipe said, that could be elevation or my oven, as I typically always have to bake extra. No complaints and will absolutely make again!!!
I make this recipe regularly every few months since I first discovered it about 2 yr ago. It is far and away the best of the dozen or so peanut butter/brownie recipes I have tried. So many of these other recipes adulterate the yummy peanut butter with powdered sugar or butter. Pouring the melted peanut butter onto parchment paper, then freezing it in the 9″ rather than 8″ pan is sheer genius. I also love how crispy the top turns out. This is simply one of the great brownie recipes out there.
This brownie recipe is a personal favorite of mine, too!! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe so much!! Thanks for the comment 🙂
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No one cares about the story
Hi Kristin! I’m so sorry you don’t enjoy this blog post. Much of what is written (and therefore skipped by pressing the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button) is Tessa’s expert advice and incredibly helpful tips for ensuring this recipe is a success! I hope you read over the pink tip box before trying any of our recipes – I promise you won’t regret it, after seeing all you can learn from Tessa! I just tested the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button on this page myself, and it seems to be working now! Sometimes it takes a moment to load the content. I’d suggest waiting until the content has loaded fully before pressing the button, and that should do the trick! Let me know if I can help further. Have a great day 🙂
I have several pb lovers in my family who insist that I make this brownie weekly It’s perfect every time I make it have a double batch about to go into the oven now
Completely unnecessary comment and totally inappropriate. Hopefully today is looking better, and may you have the day you most certainly deserve.
I agree! Totally unnecessary comment. If the “jump to” button is broken, that’s one thing but she should speak for herself! I LOVE all the information Tessa gives freely, I might add. She has helped me immensely with all of her tips. I hope that person has the day they deserve. She sounds miserable.