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Homemade Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies photo

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Fudgy brownies with chocolate and peanut butter chips, finished with swirls of peanut butter.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cupbuttermelted 1 stick, salted – see notes for unsalted butter
  • 2 largeeggs
  • 1/2 cupsugargranulated
  • 1/2 cupbrown sugar
  • 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
  • 1/2 cupall purpose flour
  • 1/2 cupcocoa powderunsweetened
  • 1/2 cupchocolate chips
  • 1/2 cuppeanut butter chips
  • 1/2 cuppeanut buttercreamy or crunchy

Equipment

  • 1 8-inch square panyou can use a 9 inch square pan, but the brownies will be thinner
  • 1 parchment paperor a good cooking spray can also work
  • 1 Whisk
  • 2 Small bowls
  • 1 Large Mixing Bowl
  • 1 Silicone spatula
  • Measuring cups and spoons

Method
 

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a square pan with parchment paper (leave an overhang for easy removal) or grease the pan well.
  2. Put 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave about 45 seconds, until melted. Stir and let cool slightly.
  3. Crack 2 large eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk or fork until the yolks are broken.
  4. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the eggs. Stir with a silicone spatula until combined.
  5. Pour the slightly cooled melted butter into the wet ingredients and mix with the spatula until incorporated.
  6. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with the spatula until just combined—stop as soon as there are no streaks of flour or cocoa to avoid overmixing.
  7. Fold 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips into the batter until evenly distributed.
  8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer with your spatula.
  9. Place 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy) in a small bowl and microwave about 20 seconds to loosen. Spoon the peanut butter into large dollops across the batter (about 9 dollops), then drag a knife or chopstick through the batter and dollops to create light swirls—less swirling gives better-defined swirls.
  10. Bake for 25–27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with fudgy moist crumbs but not wet batter.
  11. Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a wire rack. Use the parchment overhang to lift them out (or invert onto a cutting board), then slice and enjoy.

Notes

Notes
If using unsalted butter, mix 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the flour before adding it to the wet ingredients.
Don’t add the butter until after adding the brown sugar and white sugar as the warm butter can cause the eggs to begin to cook. This will cause the possibly of having tiny bits of cooked scrambled eggs in the brownies.
I used a metal baking pan for this recipe. If you use a glass pan, the baking time may be slightly more as it takes glass longer to heat in the oven.
I don’t recommend using natural peanut butter with the oil that needs mixed in for these brownies. Natural peanut butter can easily separate and make the brownies feel a little oily.
To measure the peanut butter, first spray the measuring cup with spray cooking oil. The peanut butter then slides right out of the measuring cup.
Don’t heat the peanut butter for any more then 20-30 seconds or it can become too runny. If the peanut butter is too warm and runny it will make the peanut butter swirl look not as pretty on top of the brownies.