These are THE BEST Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies. Rich and fudgy brownies swirled with peanut butter and topped with edible peanut butter cookie dough, mini chocolate chips, and chopped peanut butter cups. I’ll take 5.
What makes these peanut butter cookie dough brownies the best?
- Easy to Make. These come together with just a few simple ingredients and only 25 minutes in the oven.
- Adaptable. If you have a peanut allergy or just want to switch it up, you can easily swap the peanut butter for Nutella, Almond Butter, Sunbutter, Cookie Butter etc… The brownie base is also great on its own or topped with chocolate frosting.
- Rich & Indulgent. The brownie base is made with Dutch Process Cocoa Powder which makes them rich and fudgy and delicious. Then the creamy peanut butter and edible cookie dough really take them over the top and indulgent.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies
Make the Dark Chocolate Brownie Base.
Preheat the oven to 350 and line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs. Whisk until fully combined and light in color. You want to whisk for a long time here (at least 3 minutes) because this recipe doesn’t use a leavening agent like baking powder to help the brownies rise. Instead, you want to whip air into the egg whites so that they rise a little, but stay dense and fudgy with that crackly top.
Add the vanilla and melted butter and whisk until combined. Then, fold in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Then pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Melt the peanut butter in the microwave until its at a pourable consistency, about 20-30 seconds. Pour it over the brownie batter and then use a toothpick or knife to swirl it into the brownie batter. Bake at 350 for 25-27 minutes. Let them cool completely.
Make the edible Peanut Butter Cookie Dough.
While the brownies bake, prepare the cookie dough. First, heat treat your flour. Eating raw flour isn’t safe, but it’s very easy to heat treat it to make it safe to consume. Simple pour the flour onto a parchment lined baking sheet and heat in the oven at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. You can do this in the same oven as the brownies are baking in, or do it ahead of time.
In a medium mixing bowl, melt the peanut butter and salted butter together. Once melted, add the sugars and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the heat treated flour and use a rubber spatula to mix. It will still be a little dry and crumbly at this point, but that’s ok. Stir in the chocolate chips. Then, stir in heavy cream 1-2 TBSP at a time until you reach the consistency of cookie dough. I used about 4 TBSP of cream.
Assemble
Once the brownies have cooled, top them with scoops of the peanut butter cookie dough. To do this, I like to use my mini 2 tsp cookie scoop, and place scoops randomly all over the brownies, leaving a few gaps. Finish them with a sprinkle of extra chocolate chips and some sliced peanut butter cups. Then, chill the brownies for 20-30 minutes to make slicing super easy.
Slice into 16 squares and enjoy. If you really wanna go crazy, microwave them for 15 seconds and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder. This makes the brownies super dark and rich and perfect. You can find it at most grocery stores next to the regular cocoa powder.
- Salted Butter. I almost always bake with salted butter. The sweetness of most desserts needs the salt to balance out the flavor. Don’t be afraid of salt!
- Peanut Butter. Peanut butter is used both in the cookie dough and swirled into the brownie batter. Use the regular creamy style peanut butter (like Jiffy) instead of the natural peanut butters where the oil separates.
- Mini Semi Sweet Chips. I think regular sized chocolate chips are too big for edible cookie dough and prefer the minis, but use whatever you like!
Tools
- 8 X 8 Baking Pan. My favorite is USA Pan. I use this one. Make sure it’s an 8X8 because the brownies won’t be nearly thick enough in a 9X9.
- Mini Cookie Scoop. Perfect for scooping cookie dough! I also make this cookie dough and scoop and freeze it to eat for a snack or stir into ice cream. I have this one.
- Precut Parchment Paper. This stuff really makes my life easier and actually lays flat instead of rolling up like the kind from the grocery store!
- Large Whisk. I like to use a really large whisk when making brownies to help incorporate a lot of air into those egg whites! This one is my favorite.
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 Brownies 1x
Description
Rich and fudgy brownies swirled with peanut butter and topped with edible peanut butter cookie dough and peanut butter cups.
Ingredients
For the Dark Chocolate Brownies
- 2 Lg Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk, at room temperature
- 1/2 C (115 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/2 C (110 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 C (113 g) Salted Butter, melted
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 C (95 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 C (60 g) Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- 1/4 C Creamy Peanut Butter
For the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- 4 TBSP Salted Butter
- 1/4 C Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1/2 C (100 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 C (55 g) Light Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 C (125 g) Heat Treated All Purpose Flour
- 1 C Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips + more for sprinkling
- 4–5 TBSP Heavy Cream
- 8–10 Mini Peanut Butter Cups, optional
Instructions
For the Dark Chocolate Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and sugars for 3 minutes or until silky and light in color.
- Add the melted butter and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt until just combined.
- Spread brownie batter into an even layer in the prepared pan.
- Melt the peanut butter for 20-30 seconds or until it reaches a pourable consistency. Pour it over the brownie batter and use a toothpick or knife to swirl it in.
- Bake at 350 for 25-27 minutes. Let cool completely.
For the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- To heat treat the flour, spread it into an even layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- In a medium mixing bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter.
- Whisk in the sugars and vanilla.
- Fold in the heat treated flour, followed by the chocolate chips.
- Add heavy cream 1-2 TBSP at a time until it becomes the consistency of cookie dough.
- Use a mini 2 tsp cookie scoop to scoop the peanut butter cookie dough onto the cooled brownies. Place the scoops randomly all over the brownies leaving a few gaps. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips and sliced peanut butter cups into the gaps.
- Chill for 20-30 minutes to make slicing easy, then slice into 16 squares and enjoy.
Notes
Brownies will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
If you loved this recipe for my Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies, be sure to leave a star rating and review below and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Instagram and Tiktok. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above, or on any of the images throughout this post.
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