Peanut Butter Blondies

These peanut butter blondies have a chewy peanut butter blondie base topped with melty peanut butter cups! They're a fun, easy, cookie bar for any occasion!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Chilling Time 20

Total Time 1 10

Servings blondies

Calories 334kcal

Author Kyleigh Sage

Equipment

Ingredients

½ cup creamy peanut butter Jif or Skippy
½ cup unsalted brown butter room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mini peanut butter cups substitute chopped peanut butter cups or chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter cups roughly chopped
flaky sea salt optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened brown butter and creamy peanut butter until fully combined and smooth.
Then add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until the texture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes, it should look much paler than before).
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold in the mini peanut butter cups (or chocolate chips/chopped peanut butter cups/etc.).
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the peanut butter cup blondies right out of the pan!
Scoop the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan and press down into a nice even layer (you can wet the tips of your fingers to easily flatten out the dough).
Cut the larger peanut butter cups in large chunks and press into the top of the dough.
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up slightly before baking.
While the blondies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake blondies at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the chocolate peanut butter blondies out of the pan.
Slice into squares and sprinkle with flaky sea salt!

Notes

For best results, use processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy that doesn't separate. Natural peanut butter has too much oil and will negatively affect the recipe.

Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, melt unsalted butter over medium heat. Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma. Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly). Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning. Let cool to room temperature. I recommend making the brown butter the night before you make the blondies, so that it has time to fully cool to room temperature. Note: For every ½ cup (1 stick or 113g), you'll lose about 1 tablespoon (14g) to evaporation while cooking. So you can either add in an extra 1 tablespoon before browning, or if you're browning big batches, just make up the weight difference in your recipe with regular unsalted butter if needed.

It's better to undercook the blondies slightly, than overcook them! Blondies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking them. Bake just until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the blondies will take to cook.

Nutrition