Peanut Butter Cookie Brownies

These bars are what happens when you can’t decide between brownies and peanut butter cookies, so you make both in the same pan. A boxed brownie mix forms the fudgy chocolate base, scattered with sweetened coconut for chew, then pinched-off pieces of refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough get pressed into the surface. As the bars bake, the cookie dough domes up into golden hilltops while the brownie below stays dense and rich. A handful of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on top melt into the warm surface and create pockets of gooey, melty sweetness in every bite. The clear winner here is contrast: dense brownie against soft cookie, smooth peanut butter against crunchy coconut, dark chocolate against light peanut butter. The whole thing is the textural party every potluck dessert should be. The ‘do not overbake’ note in the directions matters. These bars are at their best when the cookie dough hits golden but the center still has a slight wobble.

Pro Tips

• Spread the brownie batter in a thin even layer. Thick spots stay gummy in the middle while the edges set.
• Drop the cookie dough in small teaspoon-sized blobs rather than larger ones. Too much dough on top means the brownie underneath stays raw.
• Press the cookie dough down only slightly. Burying it in the brownie batter will sink it to the bottom.
• Pull from the oven when the cookie tops are golden but the center jiggles slightly. They firm up as they cool.
• Cool completely before cutting. Warm bars tear; cool bars slice clean.

Variations

• Swap peanut butter cookie dough for chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, or sugar cookie dough.
• Stir ½ cup of chopped pecans or peanuts into the brownie batter for added crunch.
• Skip the coconut if you’re not a fan and double the chocolate chips on top.