Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

If you love chocolate and peanut butter, Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies are about to be your new obsession. Thick, fudgy, and seriously addictive, consider yourself warned.

 

Why We Love Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

• Better Then Box Mix – These rich, thick brownies will beat a boxed mix any day. Plus their are multiple ways you can customize the brownies too.
• Rich Peanut Butter Chocolate Flavor – If you love peanut butter and chocolate together, these rich gooey peanut butter swirled brownies will be your new favorite.
• Fun To Make With The Kids – My kid not only loves brownies, she loves swirling the peanut butter.

Ingredients For Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

• butter melted, 1 stick, salted – see notes for unsalted butter
• eggs
• sugar granulated
• brown sugar
• vanilla extract
• all purpose flour
• cocoa powder unsweetened
• chocolate chips – I prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips can make the brownies a little too rich for my preferences
• peanut butter chips
• peanut butter can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter. I don’t recommend using a natural peanut butter where the oil separates from the butter as this can make the brownies oily.

How To Make Chocolate Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies With A Swirl Top

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the square pan with parchment paper or grease the pan well. Place the butter in a small bowl and heat for 45 seconds in the microwave.
2. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs with a whisk or fork until the yolks break. Add sugar, brown sugar and vanilla to the bowl and mix well with a silicone spatula until combined. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until combined.

3. Add flour and cocoa to the wet ingredients and mix with a silicone spatula until well combined. Watch to make sure all of the flour and cocoa just dissolves into the wet ingredients, but don’t overmix as it can give the brownies more of a cake like texture. Mixing it too much whips air into the batter, making it more cakey.

4. Pour the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips into the batter and fold them in with a silicone spatula.
5. Pour the brownie batter into the pan. Use your spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan.

6. Place the peanut butter in a small bowl and place in the microwave for 20 seconds, just enough to loosen it up a little bit. Dollop the peanut butter in large dollops all over the pan, I usually do about 9 dollops. Drag a knife or a chopstick through the batter and peanut butter to make the swirls but only a little! Less swirling produces better swirls.

7. Bake brownies for about 25-27 minutes or until when you insert a toothpick in the center, the brownies are fudgy but not wet with batter. They are really fudgy and will be a little loose in the center. Allow the brownies to cool completely, then slice and enjoy!

Variations For Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Here are few different variations that still keep these brownies a peanut butter brownie.

Try A Different Nut Butter– Almond Butter, Cashew Butter, or other types of nut butter can be swapped cup for cup in this peanut butter brownie recipe.

Add Nuts– Sometimes I swap the peanut butter chips for chopped nuts. Walnuts are my favorite, but chopped peanuts are delicious too.

Swap The Chocolate Chips– Dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or even yogurt-style chips can be swapped for chocolate chips or peanut butter chips.

Add Peanut Butter Cups- Peanut butter cups like Reeses can be chopped and added to the batter or sprinkled on top of this decadent recipe. You can also buy mini peanut butter cups which are delicious on top.

How Can I Tell When These Brownies Are Done Cooking?

Brownies should be a little gooey in the center, but not raw. Try sticking a toothpick into the center of the brownies. The brownies should be gooey but not raw. Make sure to stick the toothpick carefully, as the chocolate chips and the peanut butter can sometimes make the brownies look a little more undercooked then they are.

Also keep in mind that brownies will continue cooking in the pan for a few minutes after after they cool. A little gooey is ok a for a finished brownie that is fudgy instead of cakey or chewy.

Should I Use A Metal Or Glass Baking Pan?

Both a metal and a glass baking pan can work for brownies, but their are a few differences. I prefer baking in a metal brownie pan.

Metal baking pans are great for brownies as they help to give the treat chewier edges with a gooey center. Metal pans heat up quickly but don’t hold in the heat for a long time. This allows those brownie edges to become chewier and sometimes slightly crisp. I recommend baking with a metal baking pan for brownies if you can.

Glass backing pans take a little longer to heat up. You may find that your brownies take a few more extra minutes to finish cooking because the pan doesn’t warm as quickly. Glass pans hold on to the heat a little longer. The edges of the brownie tend to be a little less crisp and chewy, but will still make tasty brownies.

How Long Will Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies Last?

The brownies will last 4-5 days and still taste fresh. Store these brownies in a covered airtight container on the counter.

Leftovers of these brownies also freeze well, just slide them once cooled into a freezer safe zip-top bag. I like to put pieces of parchment paper between them so they don’t stick when frozen.