Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a 9” x 9” baking dish with parchment paper or thoroughly grease the pan.
Mix 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (try to avoid the sugary popular brands), 1/3 cup butter, 2/3 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add in 1 cup whole wheat flour (or white flour), 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. This is a thick doughy batter, spoon and press it into your prepared pan. Crush ½ cup peanuts (unsalted or salted, up to you) and press them into the brownie dough.
Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Should you make these? Well, they are easy but not overly sweet, so if you prefer that then yes you should.
I love peanut butter anything, so…..
Oh hell yes. I’ll be adding a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips to mine.
Mmmm good idea!
I ate all the semi-sweet chocolate chips we had in the pantry. Right outta the bag like some kind of savage.
You mean that’s not normal? Have I been doing it wrong all this time?
My second favorite story about one of my friend’s kids is about Georgia; at like 4 she got up super early in the morning and ate an entire bag of chocolate chips out of the cupboard. They found her finishing them up, evidence of the chocolately murder all over her hands and face.
FIRST favorite story is my godson, who microwaved a can of soup. The whole can, unopened, microwaved.
I can’t imagine the microwaved soup story ended well.
I keep chocolate chips around almost all the time to be prepared for cookie emergencies, but I probably eat them from the bag more often than I bake with them.
I mean, it’s a pandemic, what are you expected to do?
I was just looking at the jar of natural almond butter I have sitting on the pantry shelf and wondering what I was going to do with it. I hope you don’t mind me completely changing your recipe around to be gluten free, dairy free, and with almonds instead of peanuts…
Oh I do not mind – in fact, your revisions would make a fun FYCE part two – please take photos and report back (because you have nothing else to do, sigh).
Ok. They are in the oven! I used 3/4 cup of almond butter, swapped in cinnamon applesauce for the butter, added a tablespoon of ground flaxseed, and subbed 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of a gluten free flour blend for the wheat flour. The batter was delicious, so we’ll see what happens in 30 minutes!
Update 2: they are delicious! Baked at 350F for 30 minutes, and they are fudgey and thick and not super sweet. I took a couple of pictures, but a photographer I am not… plus, I have no idea how to post pics here.
Thank you for the update! I will share with my vegan friends.
These look good but I kinda want the chocolate ones with the swirl of peanut butter. Anybody know how to make those?
It’s pretty simple: Use natural PB but make sure it’s at room temp so it is “looser” in consistency, but still make sure the oil and PB are mixed together. Pour your chocolate batter in the pan, then, using a pastry bag, squeeze the PB on top of it in a switchback pattern. You can use a knife or spatula to then run up and down the batter to give the PB more of a swirled appearance. Then just bake it.
Oh my god yes I will be making these. I’ll definitely throw some chocolate chips in too (or a chopped up chocolate bar because I think that’s what I have). I might even do it tonight… Yum.
Oh, and I meant to say, love the whole wheat flour and less sweet thing. Just a little less unhealthy, but not so much as to not be incredibly appealing – right up my alley. I imagine Keitel loved them?
Brownies are the best sweet baked good- fudge, peanut butter, blondies, all good. I like the idea of these being a little less sweet. Will make, thanks!