Favourite Peanut Butter Brownies

These peanut butter brownies are technically more peanut butter bar than fudgy brownie, but they’re the kind of bake-sale recipe that disappears the moment you set the tray down. The base is a simple peanut butter blondie with brown sugar for chew, eggs and butter for richness, and a full half cup of peanut butter folded into the batter.

The genius is the chocolate topping technique. A 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips gets sprinkled across the hot bars right out of the oven. The residual heat melts the chips into a soft frosting layer that you spread smooth with the back of a spoon. No separate ganache, no double boiler, just a clever shortcut that gives every bar a thick chocolate top.

A scatter of chopped peanuts on top finishes them with the crunch and nutty depth that turns peanut-butter-and-chocolate into something proper bakery-worthy.

Pro Tips

• Use creamy peanut butter for a smooth bar texture, or chunky if you want extra peanut bits scattered through. Both work; pick by texture preference.
• Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly across the hot pan immediately. Wait too long and the bars cool, the chips don’t melt, and you have a lumpy top instead of a smooth coat.
• Cover the pan with a baking sheet for 5 minutes after sprinkling the chips. The trapped heat softens them faster and more evenly.
• Cool completely before cutting. Warm bars tear; cold bars cut into clean rectangles.

Variations

• Use peanut butter chips alongside or instead of chocolate chips for a double peanut butter version.
• Drizzle with melted white chocolate for a striped finish that looks like a candy-shop confection.
• Press a row of peanut butter cups into the warm bars instead of chocolate chips for an over-the-top, cup-style version.