
Lauren Hardy is a writer, editor and self-taught, experimental foodie.…
Mmmm… Delicious peanut butter brownies, courtesy of Lauren Hardy.
By Lauren Hardy
Every so often, I spread peanut butter on my regular brownies. (Sometimes, you just can’t have one without the other.) And so, I flipped-flopped the two ingredients. This time, I’m spreading chocolate on peanut butter brownies.
PrintPeanut Butter Brownies
Mmmm… Delicious peanut butter brownies.
- Author: Lauren Hardy
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 32 brownies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the ganache:
- 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350? F. Grease a 13 x 9 by 2-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar with an electric mixer until combined and fluffy. Mix in eggs, applesauce and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats and baking soda. Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until combined.
- Bake until brownies are golden and puffed on the top, around 35-40 minutes. Insert a toothpick to test — it should come out dry.
- Cool completely on a rack.
Make the ganache:
- Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
- In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk in the butter and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Spread ganache over the brownies and let stand until the chocolate has set, about 20 minutes.

Lauren Hardy is a writer, editor and self-taught, experimental foodie. By the time she was 6 years old, she had the Toll House Inn chocolate chip cookie recipe memorized and baked a variety of batches for her family each week. Her passion for cooking flourished during her college years. In addition to her writing aspirations, she hopes to own a bakery someday. You can follow her latest musings on her blog, "Making Life Sweet," at laurenhardy.com, where she blogs weekly about inspiration, food and faith.