I love brownies. I love peanut butter cookies. I LOVE Peanut Butter Cookie Brownies!!! AKA Polka Dot Brownies :0)
We’ve got an easy homemade brownie batter studded with globs of peanut butter cookie dough for a chocolate peanut butter lovers dream come true.
These little squares did NOT last long my friends. My husband barely even got to taste them because the boys and I scarfed them up so fast. He’s learning that he has to be quick if he wants to get in on the good stuff. Otherwise it’s like, “Um, didn’t I see a pan of brownies on the counter a few days ago?” Sure did buddy, you snooze you loose around here!
You should probably make these too, it being the start of the weekend and all! Happy Friday!
PrintPeanut Butter Cookie Brownies
An easy homemade brownie batter studded with globs of peanut butter cookie dough for a chocolate peanut butter lovers dream come true.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Brownies
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the Cookie
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare a 9 by 9 inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper, leaving excess hanging over the sides for easy removal later.
Brownie Batter
- In a small pan over medium heat, melt butter and stir in sugar.
- Remove from heat and stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Stir the butter, sugar and eggs into the dry ingredients until just mixed. A few lumps are okay.
- Pour the brownie batter into the pan and set aside.
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- In a medium bowl, whisk together vegetable oil and sugar. Then add the egg, vanilla extract, and peanut butter and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt and then add to the wet ingredients to form a dough.
- Drop 25 scoops of peanut butter cookie dough (about 1 TB each) onto the brownie batter.
- Bake for 27-30 minutes, then cool completely before cutting into bars.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 17g
- Sodium: 170mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 4.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.9g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 3.3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
Is it ok to use a 9 by 13 inch pan?
If you use a larger pan they will be very thin and will bake faster – not sure if it would work.
Hi Julie, I’m a professionally trained chef (retired) and totally obsessed with food, particularly desserts and recipe development. I try to eat healthy and avoid sugar, so I’m constantly testing and adapting rich recipes to be a little lighter but still satisfying, as I love butter!
I’m puzzled by one aspect of your recipe and hoping you can explain it to me: the chocolate batter calls for butter, but the peanut butter batter calls for oil. Why oil, and not butter? In what way does the use of oil affect the flavor/texture?
If I use oil in a recipe, I usually opt for organic coconut oil, avocado oil, or olive oil with butter flavor. So, if oil works better in the peanut butter batter, which “healthy” oil would you recommend using? I’ve never made peanut butter brownies, but I am anxious to give it a try. Please help me out here!
Many thanks,
Alyssa
Great question Alyssa. I need to go back and remake this recipe and tweak it so it makes more sense. I made this one a while back and was simply combining a brownie recipe and a cookie recipe that I liked! Let me know if you try it, what changes you make and how it works out! Thanks for your question!
I made these and ate WAY too many of them. They were so good and not too sweet.
I’m glad you liked them! Thanks so much for letting me know, Rachel!
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened cocoa
I used unsweetened cocoa.
My peanut butter dough just kinds of stayed in globs, not swirled like the pictures show. I’m sure the brownies will taste good. They just look different than I expected.
Made these last night! They came out perfectly and everyone loved them! I added a little salt to the top while they were still hot and that added extra flavor! Might try adding dark chocolate chunks to the brownie batter next time. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
I can’t wait to try these. I have looked at dozens of peanut butter cookie brownies and this one is the least sinful, nutritionally, yet it sounds delicious! From the comments, I’m sure to love them!