Peanut Butter Blondies

Dense, chewy, and intensely peanut buttery, these peanut butter blondies come together in one bowl and half an hour.  No complaints here.   (Jump to Recipe) 

Let me tell you about a recipe that I’ve made not once, but twice in the past week alone.  And took none of it to the office.  That’s right, these two piggies ate two whole pans of peanut butter blondies all on their own, and there are no. regrets. whatsoever.

The whole thing started on Instagram last week, when I posted a picture of my PB&J Bars for…wait for it…#nationalpeanutbutterandjellyday.  Yeah.  That’s a thing.  I don’t even know, I just try to keep up with the kids these days.

When I got home from work that day I encountered a very upset Brian.  “Where are the peanut butter bars??” he asked in consternation.  Let it be known that the original recipe was created purely because of his peanut butter obsession (ok, and mine) so whenever it’s mentioned, he basically demands that I make it.

So, it being a weeknight, I got out the ingredients, looked at the recipe, and was immediately annoyed…with my former self.  Get out my mixer to cream butter and sugar?  Wait…that means I have to bring butter to room temperature.  And clean the mixer beaters later.  On a Monday night, when all I want to do is lay on the couch and binge Gilmore Girls.  The annoyance, can you feel it mounting?

So out of pure laziness I decided to scrap the original recipe and use melted butter, one bowl, and one fork.  And also, not add the jelly swirl, because again, lazy.  How bad could it really be?

Turns out, not bad, not in the slightest way bad.

In fact, using melted butter produced some of the densest, chewiest, most intensely peanut buttery peanut butter blondies I’d ever tasted.  Which in retrospect, makes sense, because why would you want to add air and structure to a bar you want to be dense and chewy?  That’s what creaming butter and sugar together does.  And maybe, in order to support a jelly swirl on top, you do need that.  But when you’re in the throes of a lazy Monday night, need-peanut-butter-now situation, you definitely do not.

No, this is the land of pure peanut butter goodness.

I really hope you’ll try these the next time you desperately need a peanut butter fix.  I know most people need chocolate fixes, and there are definitely recipes on here to satisfy that craving (see, e.g., my favorite fudgy brownies or this venerated single layer chocolate cake) but sometimes chocolate isn’t the thing we want.  Sometimes it’s chewy, dense, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth peanut butter that we want, and I make no apologies for it.  Neither should you.

And if you want to know how fast two people can eat one pan of peanut butter blondies, well, I guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.

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Peanut Butter Blondies

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

22 mins

Total Time

32 mins

 

Dense, chewy, and intensely peanut buttery, these peanut butter blondies come together in one bowl and half an hour.  No complaints here.

Yield: 16 two-inch blondies

Author: katiebirdbakes.com

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter*
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Chopped peanuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper or grease well. Set aside.

2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter (this takes about 1 minute in my microwave).  Stir in peanut butter until it melts into the butter and is one homogenous mixture, then whisk in brown sugar.  My whisk of choice is actually a fork, but a normal whisk works too.  Whisk in egg and vanilla until mixture is well-combined.

3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet mixture.  Stir it all together until evenly combined. 

4. Press the mixture evenly into the pan to form one layer.  I find using my hands at the end to smooth it out is easiest.  Sprinkle some chopped peanuts over the top, if desired.

5. Bake for 22-24 minutes, until the edges are browned and the bars look slightly puffed. Cool completely before cutting into bars, if you can wait that long.  

Recipe Notes

*conventional or natural peanut butter both work.  I tried it both ways, and slightly prefer the texture of the blondies when conventional peanut butter is used (it's denser), but both are delicious.

 

Bars can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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