Peanut Butter Brownies are great. Peanut Butter STUFFED Brownies are next level! With a thick layer of creamy peanut butter neatly sandwiched inside my favourite fudgy brownie, every bite is chocolatey, peanutty heaven. Somebody stop me – I went back for “just one more” five times…….😩
Peanut butter stuffed brownies
Visions of a peanut butter sandwiched neatly inside a brownie invaded my dreams recently. I mean, creamy peanut butter and fudgy chocolate brownie. They are dream-worthy, no?
To make this dream into reality, ordinarily I’d go straight to my default brownie stuffing method – freezing a slab of peanut butter which makes it easy to sandwich between loose batter.
But, against my better judgement, after googling to see what “everybody else does”, I tried spreading the peanut butter on brownie batter, then covering it with more brownie batter.
The internet is lying.
It does not work! Brownie batter is too soft to spread the peanut butter across the surface, and the brownie batter is too thick to spread over the peanut butter! 🤯
So, I reverted back to my usual freezing method and it worked perfectly. And so easy. Yes, you have to wait for the peanut butter to freeze. But once that’s done, just place the frozen peanut butter slab on a layer of brownie then cover with more brownie.
What was I thinking? Stick with what I know! 😅
PS Yes you spy sea salt flakes on the peanut butter slab. Those subtle little pops of salt work so well here!
PPS Proof of fudginess:
Ingredients in Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Here’s what you need to make this. It’s just my classic chocolate brownie recipe plus peanut butter. You can also use the flourless chocolate brownies batter – some might even think it’s even better because it’s even fudgier plus you get that subtle flavour from the almond meal!
1. the peanut butter
Use regular peanut butter spread, the commercial brands you put on sandwiches which has salt and sugar added, like Bega, Skippy. Natural peanut butter (or pure peanut butter) which is just, as the name suggests, plain peanut butter (plus maybe a pinch of salt), is too runny for this recipe and the flavour is more intense.
If you want to use natural peanut butter, it is better to swirl it through the brownie. I did try a thinner layer of natural peanut butter sandwiched in the middle but I wasn’t thrilled with the mouthfeel when you get a good hit of the peanut butter, it’s a bit cloying (because it doesn’t have sugar or salt added like regular peanut butter).
Peanut-free alternatives – Anything with a peanut butter texture can be used (pictured above). For example, Nutella (recipe here), Dulce de Leche (try this Salted Caramel Stuffed Brownies!), Biscoff and nut-free spreads, as long as they are not runny. Even jam would work!
2. the BROWNIE PART
Don’t be tempted to posh this up by using higher cocoa % chocolate (like 70%), it messes with the fudginess of the brownie and alters the texture in not a good way, edging towards pasty and away from fudgy. Stick with regular dark chocolate (which is usually around 45% cocoa). I don’t even use 50% cocoa chocolate for brownies anymore, I’m so particular about this!
Dark chocolate – Per ranting above, use regular dark chocolate (US: semi-sweet chocolate), not chocolate with a higher cocoa percentage above 45%. Also, use chocolate chips or melts from the baking aisle which is made for melting smoothly, whereas chocolate in the confectionary aisle is designed to not melt!
Cocoa powder – Just regular cocoa powder, not dutch processed (dries the brownie out a bit). Make sure you sift out lumps!
Brown sugar rather than white, for fudgier texture.
Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. No baking powder in brownies – makes it puffy and cake like which we don’t want!
Vanilla extract rather than vanilla essence (imitation).
Eggs – Large eggs, which are 50 – 55g each (2 oz) sold in cartons labelled “large eggs” that are 600 – 660g for a dozen. If you use eggs that are much larger than this, like jumbo, then it makes the brownies a bit less fudgy. Unlike most baking recipes, there is no need to bring them to room temperature.
Butter – I alway use unsalted butter so I can add the amount of salt I want myself. Please don’t use margarine, the flavour is just not the same!
Salt – Just a bit, to bring out the flavours. Pretty standard baking practice these days!
Salt flakes – Forgot to photograph! I really like to add a sprinkle on the peanut butter slab and on the surface of the finished brownie. It adds little pops of salt that cut through the richness beautifully – especially with indulgent treats like these brownies.
No flakes? You can use regular salt on the peanut butter layer, but I wouldn’t use it on top. It doesn’t have the same delicate touch – it’s a bit too harsh.
How to make Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Shockingly easy – freeze the peanut butter to make a slab that you put in the brownie batter. As for the brownie batter? One bowl and a handheld whisk. So easy. 🙂
1. Frozen peanut butter slab for stuffing
Warm peanut butter in the microwave to make it pourable.
Pour into a paper lined 20cm/8″ pan then spread. Because it’s loose, it’s easy to spread evenly – just tilt the pan or spread with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with salt flakes, if using – the little pops of salt is a nice touch but not a deal breaker if you forget (which I keep doing).
Freeze for 3 hours until it is frozen solid so you can pick it up without flopping at all.
Remove from the pan by lifting it out with the paper then keep it in the freezer on the paper until required. Re-line the pan with paper, we’re going to use it for the brownies.
2. brownie batter and stuffing
This part is a breeze!
Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave and mix together until smooth (I use a whisk – it combines them quickly). It takes me 3 x 30 second increments on high.
Make batter – Whisk the sugar in first, then add the eggs and vanilla and whisk in until smooth. Add the flour, cocoa and salt, whisk until combined.
Stuff – Pour half the batter into a pan and spread out.
Top with the peanut butter slab (straight from the freezer) and place it on top.
Peanut butter for swirls – Pour over the remaining batter and smooth out. Warm the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter in the microwave to loosen. Drizzle/dollop randomly across the surface.
Swirl – then make swirls by dragging a butter knife or back of a teaspoon across the surface. Make shallow grooves if needed using the flat side of the knife or the back of a teaspoon to reveal sufficient brownie batter. The brownie batter firms up because it gets chilled from the frozen peanut butter slab, but it will melt and level out in the oven. No need to stress about this step – be bold and brave! It always looks pretty. 🙂
Bake for 32 minutes, until the edges are a bit set but the middle is still jiggling. It’s a little longer than classic brownies (which take 27 minutes) because the brownie batter gets chilled by the frozen peanut butter slab so it needs more time to come up to temperature.
Cool for 1 hour on the counter then at least 3 hours in the fridge to let it set before cutting, else the peanut butter will ooze out. Oh! Also, sprinkle with sea salt. It works so well here!
Just a quick note on cutting and eating matters. It has to be chilled to firm up the peanut butter layer so it doesn’t ooze out everywhere when you cut it. So it will feel a bit firm as you cut it, but once it is brought back to room temperature it softens into a fudgy brownie texture and the peanut butter goes creamy.
And actually, though I recommend bringing it to room temperature so it goes a bit gooey,it is really, really good even fridge cold. The texture is more like fudge, you know, the candy type, where it’s a bit firmer to bite into but once in your mouth it melts into a river of rich molten goodness.
In summary – you just can’t go wrong with these brownies, however you eat them.
I challenge you to stop at one. – Nagi x
Peanut butter stuffed brownies FAQ
Absolutely, they work perfectly using my Flourless Chocolate Brownie batter. Same baking time and temperature.
They were still fresh after 5 days! Keep them in an airtight container in the pantry, though if it’s very warm where you are it is better to keep them in the fridge.
Couple of reasons (and I did try!). Firstly, natural peanut butter is runnier so it even if you fridge set after baking, it runs out everywhere when at room temperature. To avoid this, you’d have to use less and have a thinner layer, which kind of defeats the stuffed-layer high impact goal. Secondly, natural peanut butter is just peanuts with maybe a pinch of salt, and the flavour is more peanut intense than the commercial spreads that have oil, sugar and salt. While I can eat the commercial spreads by the spoonful, I don’t with natural peanut butter, the mouthfeel is too cloying.
If you only have natural peanut butter, the better way to use it is to swirl it through. To do this, pour half the batter in, swirl some peanut butter through, top with more batter then swirl again. I only used 1/2 a cup.
It was salvaged! I swirled it:
And yes, I know it looks great, and it tasted pretty good too. But swirling peanut butter through means you get some large pockets of plain peanut butter which was just too much, too cloying in the mouth. A sandwiched layer is just better!
I tried swirling less through (and I did it in layers – half the batter in first, swirls, more batter then swirls again) but I still felt that you get some large pockets of peanut butter that was just too much in a mouthful (like the above noted issue).
I also tried mixing peanut butter into the chocolate brownie mixture and there was just no way you can do this and get enough peanut flavour in. Chocolate is actually a very dominant flavour.
Watch how to make it
OOPS! Please ignore the step where I add chopped chocolate into the batter, this was brought over in error from the classic Chocolate Brownies video. There is no chopped chocolate in these Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies! Sorry for the confusion. 🙂 I’ll replace the video on Monday!
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Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Ingredients
Peanut butter matters
- 1 cup (250g) smooth peanut butter spread for stuffing – not natural pure peanut butter, use the sandwich spread type (Bega, Skippy's), Note 1
- 1 tsp salt flakes , divided
Brownie
- 200g / 14 tbsp unsalted butter (1 3/4 US sticks)
- 1 1/4 cups (200g) dark chocolate chips (7 oz) (Note 2)
- 1 cup loosely packed brown sugar , loosely packed
- 3 large eggs , lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Save 2 tbsp peanut butter for swirling, warm to loosen then freeze rest in lined pan. Melt butter and chocolate, mix in sugar, then eggs + vanilla, then flour + cocoa + salt. Pour half in pan, top with peanut butter slab, cover with remaining batter, swirl through warmed reserved peanut butter. Bake 32 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Cool 1 hr on counter, 3 hrs+ in fridge, cut.
FULL INSTRUCTIONS
- Line pan – Grease a 20cm/8" square pan with butter then line with baking paper (parchment).
- Frozen peanut butter slab – Set aside 2 tablespoons of the peanut butter for the swirls. Warm the remaining peanut butter in the microwave to loosen (~30 sec on high), then pour into the pan. Spread evenly, sprinkle with half the sea salt flakes. Freeze for 2 – 3 hours until it's so firm you can pick it up. Lift out of pan using the paper, then put it back in the freezer on the paper while you make the batter (it softens quickly).
- Line pan again with baking paper, with overhang so you can lift the brownie out.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan forced).
- Melt – Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between (takes me 1m 30 sec) until melted and smooth. Stir to combine.
- Batter – Add sugar, mix, then add eggs and vanilla and mix well until smooth and molten. Add flour, cocoa and salt. Stir until smooth.
- Stuff – Pour half the batter into the pan. Top with frozen peanut butter slab, spread with remaining batter.
- Swirl – Randomly dollop/drizzle the 2 tbsp peanut butter across the surface. Use a butter knife or teaspoon to make random swirls, make grooves if needed to reveal brownie batter – Note 3 for tips!
- Bake for 32 minutes. The middle will still jiggle (it sets when cool) but the edges should be firmish.
- Set – Cool in the pan on the counter for an hour, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours to let it properly set, else the peanut butter will ooze out when cutting. Cut into 16 squares. Let it come to room temperature for 15 minutes+ then devour! Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I like to stuff my brownies (I also love them plain!)
Life of Dozer
Work home move day! Actually, a double move. I’ve moved in too. This will also be my home until Dozer’s forever home is finished. It’s been quite a week. I plan to sleep all weekend to recover!
But – a little move isn’t going to stop me from getting these Peanut Butter Brownies out! Settled in while I was waiting for the removalists to arrive to finish today’s post. 🙂
Lost him at one stage, he got buried in the packing room 😅
Just made these for morning tea using Biscoff instead of PB. I pulled the frozen spread out whilst I got the brownie mixture ready & it softened too much so that is a good lesson learned! Made it work & my son and his tradie mates said they were awesome!!! Will have to put the recipe on permanent rotation. Thanks Nagi
I made your Stuffed Peanut Butter Brownies for the family tonight. The BEST brownie EVER! The peanut butter filling and swirl put it over the top, It’s a keeper!
These were delicious. I followed the written recipe to the letter (there’s some discrepancies in the video) and they were perfect. A big hit at a birthday afternoon tea. A bit of a process but worth it! Will make these again.
I’ve added strawberry jam to mine Nagi. It’s baking now… fingers crossed!!!
If you are a PB & Chocolate fan – these are A-mazing. And really quite easy to make. And so good. And yummy. And delightful. And problematic because I could eat them every day at least 3 times a day which might not be good for my waistline but potentially worth it.
These were super easy to make and delicious! I took them to work to share and got so many compliments. Will def make again
Have made this twice and each time ive extended the cook time as it looked too jiggly.
Not sure if its my oven. Could you please provide a video of how jiggly yours comes out?
Still turned out amazing and partner wants more. Pretty sure he’s functioning high on sugar at the moment 😅
Hello!!!
After 32mins, the centre (and majority) was very jiggly with the edges just sort of firmish. I left it in for another 2mins and kept rechecking (total 6mins extra)
Turned out amazing but wondering if there was any chance you share a video of yours when it comes out of the oven?
I love your recipes Nagi!!(I’ve never had one fail). Just wanted to say I love the abbreviated recipe and could you do them more often thanks Esther ps my brownie is in the oven it smells so good!
What are the dark chic bits added to the batter in the video? That step does not feature in the recipe?
Mistake! We had some confusion with footage when editing. Replacing the video shortly! There are no dark choc bits added into the batter for this recipe! 🙂 – N x
I added the chopped dark chocolate and will always do so as it came out fantastic!
I couldn’t resist trying this recipe when I saw it. I brought it to office for the team and they all loved it! It’s like a fudgy version of the Reese PB cup. Sooo moreish! Thanks for the recipe Nagi!
Hello Nagi and Chef JB! These were delish and I plan on making them again. My family says thank you!
Crazy question, if I prefer the brownie to be more chewy is there anything I can do to get that result? Appreciate any feedback in advance 😊
Good morning Carina! I’m so glad your family enjoyed these 🙂 Brownies with stuffing are not as chewy as plain brownies because the stuffing is in the way. But even with plain brownies, the amount of chew is more limited that you can achieve with cookies. I think I’ve maxed out the chew in my brownies (edges have the best!) without going insane with sugar and playing with things like corn syrup which goes into complicated territory. If you want serious chew, try the Chocolate Chip Cookies of my Dreams! That has insane chew 🙂 – N x https://promotown.info/the-chocolate-chip-cookies-of-my-dreams/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Nagi! That trick about freezing the slab of peanut butter – TERRIFIC!!!
Give Dozer a little love from me and Scotch
When I see someone chugging brownies, it is a chilling experience. Please share and be aware that chocolate is loaded with heavy metals like lead and cocoa powder is the form carrying the most of it. If you need an incentive to treat your ‘treat’ with a sparing consumption, that should definitely factor in. There is, please be aware, zero safe consumption level for heavy metals like lead, cadmium, etc. Consumer reports and asyousow.org both have articles on Toxic Chocolate, and Netflix has an episode in their Rotten series called Bitter Chocolate that exposes truths. The landscape of food is changing and so is what we call “food.” Metals cannot be separated from chocolate; the plant uptakes it during growth. I know your site isn’t concerned with matters of food and health, but these are serious matters obscured from the masses that people should be aware of, so wise choices can be made; substitutions that are healthier, adopted; and your incredible recipes further elevated by a higher quality of ingredients chosen by your readers (organic, non-gmo, etc.)
What you say is true Ange, largely due to heavy metals in the soil where the beans are grown;
On a positive note, in Australia at least, cocoa products meet fairly stringent testing in this regard – acceptable levels that need to be met mean that any traces present are extremely low, and less than exposure you will get from normal daily life
Omg, when you posted the recipie I was still at the cottage but as soon as I came home, I made them and they are out of this world!!!! I wish I could post a picture here
These look incredible! Can i substitute the butter for oil?
Hi Nagi & JB, I can’t wait to try this recipe, however it says not to use Dutch processed cocoa in it as does a terrific looking cookie recipe in your second book. Unfortunately, that’s the only kind that either my local Woolworths or Cole’s sells. I’m unable to travel beyond my local area, and so wondering if I can still make these brownies – which are currently making me drool in anticipation please?🙏🏼
Mine is baking in the oven and I can already tell it’s going to be so good!
I already have another frozen slab of peanut butter ready to go as I know it’s not going to last long …🥰
Hope you love it Vicki! I just made another batch today 🙂 Can’t stop! – N x
The video said cool pan on bench for 30 min but the receipt said cool on bench for 1 hr
Which one is correct. For the peanut butter brownies
Yikes! Busy week 🙂 recipe card if right! It’s always right, trumps video. I am not a professional editor!!! 1 hour on counter for cooking then pop it in fridge – N x
Thank you for the reply
I left it in the bench for one hr
Omg these brownies. Are so good and dangerous I left out three and the rest in the freezer or I would have ate them all . 😋
Well these are on the ‘to bake’ list! If they are anything like your Nutella brownies then they will be a winner!
Yes! Exactly like that except with peanut butter instead of Nutella!! N xx
I just want to clear up my name which is Bert not Robert. Sorry just remember Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street okay. Thank you, Bert W. Scott Jr.
So noted Bert! 🙂 – N x