In my kitchen this past week I’ve managed to burn my Thanksgiving brussels sprouts, make a bum batch of chocolate brownies, crack my favorite coffee mug and somehow spill a half bottle of red wine under…UNDER my refrigerator. ย Additionally, since my kitchen seems to be a vortex of ill fate, I’ve refused to do the dishes. ย It wasn’t a pretty sight, friends. ย I was just about due for an intervention.
I was just about ready to throw a stick of dynamite into my kitchen and hope for the best. ย Instead I opted for one last shot… mostly because sticks of dynamite like the ones they have in cartoons are hard to find… maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places… whatever the case, ย I preheated the oven, kept my head down, and… success! ย Sweet, dense, chocolate and peanut butter success.
This dark kitchen cloud seems to have passed, and I’ve managed to get all of my dishes in the dishwasher…. things are looking up and tasting pretty darn good too.
These peanut butter blondies are serious. ย The blondie is dense and packed with brown sugar and peanut butter flavor. ย The chocolate frosting is the perfect compliment, although if you simply wanted to add chocolate chips or broken up Reese’s Peanut Butter cups to the blondie batter, that would be just as delicious. ย I think frosting on brownies is the ultimate indulgence…. so why not go for it. ย Be warned… you’ll need milk to drink with these. ย Lots of milk.
Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting
makes one dozen big brownies in a 9×13-inch pan
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 cubes
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup smooth and natural peanut butter
2 eggs
2 ย teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. ย Grease a 9×13-inch pan, line with parchment paper if you have it on hand, then grease the parchment paper. ย If you don’t have parchment paper, these blondies will be just fine.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar together until the butter is just melted. ย Remove from the burner and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the peanut butter. ย Stir until incorporated. ย Allow to cool for 5 minutes more, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. ย You want the sugar, butter and peanut butter mixture to be cool enough that the eggs won’t begin to cook when they’re added in.
Whisk together salt, flour and baking powder. ย Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients. ย Stir until just incorporated. ย Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan and smooth out. ย Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean. ย Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.
Milk Chocolate Frosting
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder and salt. ย Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar followed by 1 tablespoon milk. ย Beat well. ย Add another cup of powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of milk. ย Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler. ย Add melted and slightly cooked milk chocolate the frosting and beat to incorporate. ย Add the final 1/2 cup of powdered sugar if you need a bit more thickness. ย Spread evenly over peanut butter blondies.
125 Responses
Amazing. Made these for me and my little sister (who is home sick from school) and it cheered us both up at first bite! Subbed in dark chocolate for milk and they were perfect for us. Thanks, Joy!
oh ha, just kidding. wow i’m tired.
do i spy a picture of those babies in loaf form up there? if so, do you remember how long it took to cook em?
Oh Joy! Longtime lurker, venturing out to let you know that I halved – literally, halved – the brown sugar in these and they were still perfect. You can’t break em. Like everything else on this site (including yourself), deeeelicious.
I made these for our New Year’s Eve party, and they were crazy, crazy good. I used a slightly smaller pan (8.5×11) baking pan so I cooked them a few minutes longer, but they were still nice and chewy on the insides.
I was too lazy to make the milk chocolate frosting, and I’m a bit of a darker chocolate girl anyway, so I whipped up some chocolate ganache.
I’m sure your milk chocolate frosting is wonderful, but I wouldn’t change a thing. For the ganache, I just microwaved 1 cup of heavy cream on high for two minutes (until nice and bubbly) and then poured it over 10 oz of semisweet chips. Let it sit for about three minutes, stirred it up, and then poured it over the blondies. Ridiculously good, and so much easier than cleaning my mixer.
Thanks again for another fabulous recipe! Happy New Year!
These look amazing.. I love peanut butter and chocolate. Great recipe.
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Thanks for finally writing about >Joy the Baker – Peanut Butter Blondies with Milk Chocolate Frosting <Loved it!
I have made these multiple times. They are so freakin good! Thanks Joy!
Made these for a dessert birthday party this past weekend – went very well. You can see how they turned out here: https://frimtanklin.blogspot.com/2012/04/peanut-butter-blondies.html Thanks for the recipe!
oh my. I’ve had these a few times and am pretty sure when I make them myself the whole pan will be gone within 24 hours.
I made these tonight! I added the frosting too soon, so it kind of melted underneath, but… uh… maybe that’s not a bad thing. Scrumptious!
I resisted this for a really long time. And that was foolish because a half batch is totally like health food. Especially when you use whole wheat flour (seriously, I liked it better. It was crazy).
Also let’s be friends!