Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies are the ultimate dessert. Perfectly moist and ultra rich, homemade brownies that are a chocolate lover’s dream!
Brownies are one of our favorite dessert recipes. We both love them. And what’s not to love? Warm chocolatey goodness? Yes, please!
A lot of our brownie variations start with a mix but this amazing dark chocolate version is made from scratch and it’s worth every minute of extra time!
The only thing we love more than a traditional chocolate version is experimenting with fun flavors and varieties. Some of our favorite variations include:
Our Ritz peanut butter version is so yummy with the addition of the salty cracker and peanut butter, but it left us wanting to do a different kind with even more peanut butter flavor and extra rich dark chocolate.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to have on hand to make these.
- Chocolates – You’ll need three different types of chocolate. One is cocoa powder, which you can use your favorite brand. You’ll also need dark chocolate chips and a high quality chocolate bar.
- Butter– You’ll need to melt the butter in the microwave.
- Hot water – Hot water helps to melt the ingredients together better as you mix them up and prevents the butter from solidifying in the batter.
- Brown sugar – I use brown sugar in these brownies to give them some extra moisture.
- Leavening agents – Eggs and baking soda are used to give the brownies a small amount of rise when they bake.
- Flour – Regular all purpose flour is all you need. I don’t recommend subbing in whole wheat or gluten free for this recipe.
- Salt – Salt helps bring out the flavors of the chocolate and peanut butter.
- Peanut butters – You’ll need both melted peanut butter and peanut butter chips (found in the baking aisle). I use creamy peanut butter, but you could use chunky or even freshly ground peanut butter if you prefer. They will give the brownies a bit of a crunch.
Instructions
Homemade peanut butter brownies are super easy to make! Here’s what you need to know.
Before starting, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×9 inch metal pan with parchment paper. Just a tip, if you don’t have a 9×9 inch square pan you can use a 9×9 inch round cake pan!
Step 1 – Mix it up. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and melted butter. Once they are combined, add the hot water and mix until well-combined. Let it cool.
Once cool, whisk in the brown sugar and egg. Next, stir in the flour, salt, baking soda, and dark chocolate and peanut butter chips.
Step 2 – Pour the batter. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Step 3 – Add the peanut butter. Heat the peanut butter in the microwave and then drizzle the warmed-up peanut butter over the brownie batter in horizontal lines.
Use a knife to make swirls with the peanut butter and batter by dragging the knife through the peanut butter and brownie batter.
Step 4 – More Chocolate. Finally, sprinkle the chopped chocolate bar evenly over the top of the brownies.
Step 5 – Bake and serve. Once the brownies are ready, place them in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. If you used a larger or smaller pan than a 9×9, you’ll need to adjust cooking times to avoid overbaking the brownies.
Let them cool, cut into squares, and serve with your favorite ice cream, whipped cream, or toppings!
How to Make Them Moist
Step one: Don’t overbake!
To prevent overbaking, use the correct pan size. I use a 9 by 9 brownie baking pan that I love to bake perfect brownies every time. If you change the size of the pan, the thickness of brownie batter will change, which means you can easily over-bake the brownies.
If you over bake by baking too long or at a higher temperature than recommended, you will dry the brownies out. Dried out brownies creates hard edges and a center that is a dry crumbly mess instead of a fudgy brownie.
The Secret Ingredient – Brown Sugar!
Granulated white sugar is very dry, but molasses adds extra moisture to brown sugar. The molasses also gives the sugar its brown color.
When you use brown sugar for brownies, it creates a rich, moist, and perfectly fudgy dessert. The molasses also gives them a deeper flavor that is not super strong, but you will notice a difference!
Looking for More Brownie Recipes?
- Ice Cream Brownie Bites
- Nutella Brownie Cake
- Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake
- Turtle Brownie Cake
- Peppermint Brownie Towers
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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup Butter, melted
- 1/4 cup Hot water
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 Egg
- 2/3 cup Flour
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ cup Dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup Peanut butter chips
- 1/3 cup Peanut butter
- 2 ounces High quality dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 9×9 inch metal pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and melted butter.
- Add the hot water and mix until well-combined then let cool.
- Whisk in the brown sugar and the egg until fully combined.
- Stir in the flour, salt, baking soda, dark chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
- Place the peanut butter in a microwave-safe container and then heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until it is a pourable consistency.
- Drizzle the warmed-up peanut butter over the brownies in horizontal lines and use a butter knife to swirl into the brownies by dragging the knife through the peanut butter and brownie batter.
- Top with chopped up chocolate bar.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Let cool, cut and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
