Brownies, peanut butter and a chocolate ganache make up these amazingly delicious Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownies. An easy recipe that everyone will be begging for more.
Who can resist a good brownie recipe? I know that I absolutely cannot, and when it comes to these Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownies I just cannot stop myself.
Now a lot of people call these Buckeye Brownies, but when we first made them many years ago (they were first published back in 2018) my kids would call them the “Ultimate Brownies” so the name stuck.
With a fudgy chewy brownie bottom, a creamy peanut butter center and a chocolate ganache topping – you would see why the word ultimate could be used on these.
We love that they are fairly simple to throw together as well, using a boxed brownie mix and then the rest is homemade. I love semi-homemade recipes that let me get a jump start.
You can absolutely make your own homemade brownies for these if you’d like as well, but boxed has just been quicker for us and we have made them both ways and they are both amazing.
These really remind me of a giant Reese’s! The flavors work together giving you the perfect balance between chocolate and peanut butter that will keep you grabbing for more.
If you are a brownie person, then I seriously urge you to make these Peanut Butter Brownies ASAP, you will want to make them over and over again.
Some of my other favorite chocolate and peanut butter dessert recipes that we have on our site include: Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars, Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies and No Bake Peanut Butter Pie.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Pantry staple and easy to find ingredients help these come together in no time.
- They have the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.
- Kids and adults absolutely go crazy for this recipe.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM):
Brownie mix (and ingredients called for on the back)
Powdered sugar
Salted butter
Creamy peanut butter
Vanilla extract
Salt
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heavy cream
HOW TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES, STEP BY STEP:
- Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray and lining it with parchment paper, set aside.
- Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended on the box mix.
- Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the package.
- Bake the brownies for the recommended time on package, remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
- While the brownies are cooling, prepare your peanut butter layer. In a medium sized bowl add the butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt.
- With a hand mixer, beat this together until smooth. This will be on the thicker side, set aside.
- To make the ganache. Add chocolate into a medium sized glass bowl (you will need a lid or plate that will cover this) and set this aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, once melted stir in the heavy cream. Whisk this mixture constantly while increasing the heat to medium high. Heat until it just starts forming bubbles.
- Immediately, pour the butter and heavy cream mixture over the bowl of chocolate and cover it with the lid. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, remove the cover and stir combing the chocolate and cream together until you get a smooth melted consistency.
- As the ganache cools, it will thicken slightly which is fine, just stir ganache when you are ready to spread it.
- Once the brownies have cooled, with a spoon dollop of the peanut butter mixture over the brownies.
- Using an offset spatula, smooth the mixture out to cover the brownie layer completely.
- Pour the ganache on top and again with an offset spatula smooth out covering the peanut butter layer.
- Place the brownies into the refrigerator and allow them to cool and set for at least 30 minutes for easier cutting.
WHAT KIND OF BROWNIE MIX SHOULD I USE?
You can use your favorite brownie mix for this recipe, we used a dark chocolate fudge for this particular one, but we love fudge, triple chocolate, milk chocolate etc.
Just you your favorite boxed mix and it will taste good regardless. You can also use your own homemade brownie recipe for this recipe as long as it makes a 9×13-inch pan worth.
CAN I USE ANOTHER KIND OF CHOCOLATE?
Yes! If you are not a semi-sweet chocolate person (we like to use it to balance out the sweetness), you can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate chunks or a baking bar.
Just make sure that you use a higher quality brand of chocolate for this recipe, it makes melting easier.
DO THESE HAVE TO CHILL?
I absolutely recommend chilling these as it will give the ganache and the peanut butter layer time to set up.
You can eat them right away if you’d like, but I will warn you that they will be messy and harder to cut.
CAN I USE CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER?
If you are looking for a little texture contrast in these Peanut Butter Brownies then yes, absolutely you can use chunky peanut butter for this recipe.
HOW TO STORE:
These can be stored in an airtight container on the countertop or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you are storing on the countertop just make sure it is not too warm or the ganache will start to melt.
These can also be frozen, place in a freezer container where they will keep for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove to the refrigerator or countertop until thawed.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Use your favorite brownie mix for this recipe or your own homemade. See some ideas above.
- In place of creamy peanut butter, you can use chunky for a texture contrast.
- These are best refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
- You want to make sure that you cool your brownies before adding the peanut butter layer so it does not melt.
- Switch up the chocolate in the ganache recipe, see some ideas above.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- Sprinkle these with some powdered sugar for some extra sweetness.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these ULTIMATE PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
- 18.3- ounce Brownie mix and ingredients called for on the back
Peanut Butter Layer:
- ½ cup salted butter melted
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Ganache Layer:
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Prepare a 9x13-inch baking pan by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray and lining it with parchment paper, set aside.
- Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended on the box mix.
- Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the package.
- Bake the brownies for the recommended time on package, remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
- While the brownies are cooling, prepare your peanut butter layer. In a medium sized bowl add the butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt.
- With a hand mixer, beat this together until smooth. This will be on the thicker side, set aside.
- To make the ganache. Add chocolate into a medium sized glass bowl (you will need a lid or plate that will cover this) and set this aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, once melted stir in the heavy cream. Whisk this mixture constantly while increasing the heat to medium high. Heat until it just starts forming bubbles.
- Immediately, pour the butter and heavy cream mixture over the bowl of chocolate and cover it with the lid. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, remove the cover and stir combing the chocolate and cream together until you get a smooth melted consistency.
- As the ganache cools, it will thicken slightly which is fine, just stir ganache when you are ready to spread it.
- Once the brownies have cooled, with a spoon dollop of the peanut butter mixture over the brownies.
- Using an offset spatula, smooth the mixture out to cover the brownie layer completely.
- Pour the ganache on top and again with an offset spatula smooth out covering the peanut butter layer.
- Place the brownies into the refrigerator and allow them to cool and set for at least 30 minutes for easier cutting.
Notes
- Use your favorite brownie mix for this recipe or your own homemade. See some ideas above.
- In place of creamy peanut butter, you can use chunky for a texture contrast.
- These are best refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
- You want to make sure that you cool your brownies before adding the peanut butter layer so it does not melt.
- Switch up the chocolate in the ganache recipe, see some ideas above.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- Sprinkle these with some powdered sugar for some extra sweetness.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 2018
Joni
Two quick questions… what size brownie mix are you using and are we baking this in a 13X9 pan?
Tornadough Alli
I’m sorry I will update that in the recipe! It’s a standard 18.3 (depending on the brand) mix and yes a 9”x13” pan.
Bree
These definitely look ultimate!! I cant wait to try these out!
Kristyn
Pure HEAVEN right here!! So good! Thank you!
Courtney O'Dell
Hello lover! These brownies are absolutely to die for delicious – so simple and easy, but out of this world flavor!
Jamielyn
Chocolate and peanut butter is my all-time FAVORITE combo! These looks so yummy!
Jennifer
OOOOOMMMMGGGGG! These brownies are everything!! That layer of peanut butter…yum!