Video
Peanut Butter Brookies
Peanut Butter Brookies combine 3 of the greatest things: peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate brownies. They are soft, fudgy and slightly gooey with rich peanut butter flavor and deep dark chocolate.
Ingredients
Cookie dough:
- ⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter, slightly melted
- ¼ cup (55g) packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) regular smooth peanut butter
- 1 large egg yolk (reserve the white for the brownie batter)
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (95g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (85g) semisweet chocolate chips plus extra for topping
Brownie Batter:
- 4 oz (113g) bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg white
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp (60g) all-purpose flour
For topping:
- mini chocolate peanut butter cups
NOTE: for best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch square metal baking pan with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang at each side and secure the sides down on the edge of the pan with ¾-inch binder clips.
- Make the cookie dough. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop until it is JUST melted so it is still pale yellow and creamy-looking. Basically, gently melt it until there is still some solid butter left and then stir off the heat until the residual heat gently melts the remaining solid butter. Combine melted butter with brown sugar, granulated sugar and peanut butter in a large bowl and mix to combine. Mix in egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Sprinkle in flour, baking soda and salt and fold it in. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Make the brownie batter. Combine chocolate and butter in a saucepan over very low heat and stir constantly until melted and smooth, or melt in the microwave at 50% power in short bursts with frequent stirring.
- Combine whole egg, egg white, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl and whisk until pale and thick. Mix in warm melted chocolate mixture. Sprinkle flour over the mixture and fold it in until evenly combined.
- Use a 1.25-oz cookie scoop to drop about 4 portions of brownie batter randomly into the bottom of the prepared pan and alternate with scoops of cookie dough. Repeat by scooping brownie batter and cookie dough over each other (see the video for how I do this) randomly until it is all used up. I typically do it so that some cookie dough covers some brownie batter and vise versa so you get layering, and then also some distinct areas of cookie dough and brownie. Use a small offset spatula to gently smear portions of cookie dough over the brownie batter. This helps level it out a bit. Watch the recipe video above to see how I do this. Scatter a few mini peanut butter cups on top and push them in slightly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out with a few moist stick crumbs attached. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan, then refrigerate for 1 hour. Lift the slab out of the pan using the overhanging parchment and slice into squares.
