Peanut Butter Brookies — These brookies are soft and chewy, with peanut butter and chocolate married together in every bite. All you need is two bowls, and no mixer is required!
Peanut Butter Brookies Recipe
A soft and chewy peanut butter cookie base with a rich fudgy brownie top, what could be better? This is a special recipe for me to post not only because it involves peanut butter and chocolate, but because I got the recipe from one of my BFF’s cookbooks, Dessert Mash-Ups.
The recipe comes from Dorothy, who blogs at Crazy for Crust. Not only is she an amazing baker, but she’s also one of my best friends. We started as online friends but have become real life friends. With this online job I have, real life and online life blur together and friends like Dorothy are cherished.
We’ve met up in San Diego, Santa Monica, San Francisco, and took a crazy whirlwind trip to Nashville where we flew from California to Nashville (and back!) in 26 hours total. We ran a half marathon together over Labor Day weekend at Disneyland and brought our daughters. Our daughters are about the same age and get along fabulously.
Dorothy and I share a passion for laughing over cocktails, cheese boards, and desserts. So it was about time I made something from her cookbook and these brookie bars are a winner.
Dorothy wrote in her book that she uses her favorite peanut butter cookie base (mine too) and her favorite brownie recipe on top. I love it when brownies have a thin, crackly top and stay fudgy underneath and these peanut butter brookies are perfect.
Soft, chewy, and wonderful with peanut butter and chocolate married together in every bite. These cookie brownie bars are easy, not fussy, all you need is two bowls, and you don’t even need to use a mixer!
What’s in Peanut Butter Brookies?
To make these brookie bars, you’ll need:
- Creamy peanut butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Eggs
- Unsweetened baking chocolate
- Semi-sweet baking chocolate
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
How to Make Brookies
Before making the brownie batter, you first need to make the flourless peanut butter cookie crust. To do so, simply stir together two types of sugar, creamy peanut butter, and an egg. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased and lined 9×13-inch baking dish.
Next, move onto the brownie batter top. Melt the chocolates, then whisk in the remaining ingredients. Pour the batter carefully over the cookie base. Bake the peanut butter brookies until the top is no longer glossy and is slightly cracked around the edges.
Can I Use Natural Peanut Butter in these Brookies?
No, you need to use a creamy peanut butter from a brand like Jif or Skippy.
Can I Add Mix-Ins?
I’ve only made this brookies recipe as written, but I’m sure you could mix some chopped nuts or chocolate chips into the brownie batter.
Tips for Making Brookies
This brookies bar recipe calls for two types of baking chocolate. I used Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus Bar instead because that’s what I had on hand. You’re welcome to use another dark chocolate if that’s all you’ve got.
I prefer making homemade brownies, but I’ve had readers report success making this recipe with a high-quality boxed brownie mix when they were short on time. Just something to note!
These brookies need to cool completely before you cut into them. They need that time to properly set up.
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Peanut Butter Brookies
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookie Crust
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, use something like Skippy or Jif for best results, not an oily ‘natural’ peanut butter that separates
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
Brownies
- 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 1/2 sticks
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Peanut Butter Cookie Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray or line with foil and spray with cooking spray for easy cleanup.
- Stir together the peanut butter, sugars, and egg in a large bowl.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. The dough layer will be thin. It helps to spay your hands with cooking spray if using your hands, or use a spatula and take your time to spread it out; set aside.
- Brownies
- Melt the two chocolates (I used 4 ounces of Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus bar instead of two types of chocolate) and butter together in a large, microwave-safe bowl on high in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until the mixture is smooth.
- Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
- Carefully stir in the flour and salt, don’t overmix.
- Evenly pour batter over peanut butter layer, lightly spreading it with a spatula.
- Bake for about 32 to 38 minutes, until the top is no longer glossy and is slightly cracked around the edges.
- Cool completely in pan before slicing and serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Way too sweet. Neither layer is that good and the peanut butter overpowered the chocolate. I wouldn’t make these again.
great
These were rich and delicious, and loved by all! Mine looked just like yours! But, one change that others will find useful-I made them gluten free. Substituted KAF GF Measure-for-Measure for the AP flour, and after mixing and spreading over peanut butter cookie crust, let the brookie mixture rest in the pan for 10 minutes before baking. Perfect, and everyone shocked that they were GF. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
The recipe started out fine until the cooking process. It took waaayyy longer than stated, About an hour longer! The brownie Layer didn’t want to set and cook. Then after in for an hour and a half it smelled like it was burning I had to take it out. So now the bottom was over done.
I think they were too many eggs. I never use three eggs in brownies. Two, yes. If I want to try to venture with these again I’ll decrease the eggs because the overall, it didn’t taste too bad, but I would never serve it to company the way it came out.
Peanut butter, chocolate, a cookie plus a brownie all in one! My kind of dessert and the kids will love to make these with me! Cannot wait to try this recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad your kids will enjoy helping you!
You never said to add the butter
But it sounds great
I will take it to work and church
Thanks Dorothy
Step 4 you add the butter as I wrote there. Enjoy!
Made this tonight. Very rushed so I cheated a little. Made the pb crust but used boxed brownies. I know not as good but they were amazing.next time on the weekend I’ll make the brownies too. Wonderful recipe
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Boxed brownies are okay if you need to!
Hi Averie! Big fan of your blog– have made several of your recipes and they are always big hits. I just made the peanut butter brookies last night and they are delicious. I brought them into the office and have had 100% rave reviews. A few observations: the peanut butter cookie bottom was actually not that thin on mine and came out to be a delicious cookie layer, almost (but not quite) equal to the brownie layer. (In my eyes, this is a very good thing!) The brownie part was also delicious and very rich and fudgy, but extremely sweet, even for me– next time I might cut out a little bit of the sugar. Thanks for the awesome recipe. I will definitely be remaking this one.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you’ll remake it!
Thank you Dorthy and Averie. I made these yesterday for Valentine’s Day, wow!!!! If I doubled the peanut butter crust next time, would it still work? Yummy.
YAYYY DOROTHY!!! and ohmylord I love how amazing these brookies look! so rich and delicious
The peanut butter brookies sounds delicious. We live at 9000 feet in the high country in Colorado, what changes in the recipe should I make to adjust for the altitude?
I don’t know since I live at sea level. I would Google to see what may be recommended in terms of adding or reducing certain ingredients in a general sense when one lives at altitude, etc.
oh my gosh I love you Averie! Thank you SO much for being such an amazing friend and person and going over the top doing this post. We need to get another trip on the books ASAP – even with the girls! <3
Yes we need to do a girls trip soon! (and with the girls too) It feels like forever :) You are the most amazing person and friend I could ask for! And I think you need to start making stuff out of your own cookbook and posting it! xoxo
well these sound divine! pb cookies are my fave but you definitely took them up several notches. yummers!
Hey girl- this is my kind of dessert! Yummy!
This sounds amaaaaazing. I like to see that I’m not the only one to spray my hands with cooking spray to spread batter or dough in a pan. :)
It’s a good little trick, huh! :)
A brownie on top of a peanut butter cookie sounds (and looks) like a square of heaven. I love the idea of mixing up desserts–more variety in every bite that way!
Two for the price of one in every bite!