Peanut Butter Blondies

Peanut butter blondies have 1 cup of peanut butter in the batter and peanut butter chips! Use natural or no-stir peanut butter in this easy, 40 minute blondie recipe!

These peanut butter blondies came out of a craving for something that tasted like peanut butter and had that perfect blondie chew! They are filled with peanut butter and come together easily in one bowl for the perfect weeknight dessert!

They pair naturally with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or a drizzle of this hot fudge sauce! And if peanut butter is your thing, my peanut butter cake and peanut butter cup blondies will satisfy those peanut butter cravings!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These two work together to give the blondies a gentle lift without making them cakey. The baking soda specifically encourages browning and works with the acidity in the brown sugar and peanut butter to deepen flavor.
• Unsalted Butter, Melted: Melted butter is what gives blondies their dense, chewy texture, just like this classic blondie recipe. Using unsalted butter lets you precisely control the total salt level, which matters here because peanut butter often contributes its own salt.
• Smooth Peanut Butter: I used natural peanut butter (Smucker’s), well-stirred, and love how it lets the peanut flavor come through with less sweetness competing with it. You can also use a no-stir variety like Jif or Skippy for a sweeter, more uniform result. If you love an extra hit of peanut butter flavor, my peanut butter cup blondies take that direction even further.
• Peanut Butter Chips (optional): Peanut butter chips reinforce the peanut flavor and add pockets of creamy sweetness throughout the bars. Fold them in at the very end and only until just combined, since overmixing at this stage can toughen the crumb.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Peanut Butter Blondies

• Mix-In’s. Fold in up to 1 cup of chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, Heath bar pieces, Reese’s Pieces, or chopped candy bars before the batter goes into the pan. If you love the peanut butter and chocolate combination, my reese’s peanut butter cookies take that pairing in a different direction.
• Peanut Butter Swirl. Dollop 2 to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter over the top of the batter, then drag a skewer or butter knife through it in a figure-eight pattern to create a swirl. This deepens the peanut flavor on the surface and adds visual contrast without changing the base recipe.
• Add a topping! Top the cooled blondie with this peanut butter buttercream or this chocolate buttercream frosting recipe! The milk chocolate ganache from this peanut butter bars recipe would also be a great additon!

Professional Tips

• Whisk the eggs thoroughly before mixing. Under-whisked eggs leave the batter incompletely emulsified, which bakes into a dense, uneven crumb instead of that fudgy, chewy center. Keep whisking until the eggs look uniform and slightly lightened before you add anything else.
• Use well-stirred peanut butter. If you are using natural peanut butter, stir it until the oil is fully incorporated before measuring. Unmixed peanut butter causes oily pockets or dry streaks in the finished blondies, which I found out the hard way.
• Pull them when the edges are just set. The bake window for these is 15 to 25 minutes at 325°F convection or 350°F conventional, and the difference between chewy and dry happens fast. The edges should look set and lightly browned, and the center should still have a slight give when you gently press it.
• Cool completely before slicing. The bars will look done but still feel soft when they come out of the oven. Give them time to firm up fully in the pan before cutting just like with these caramel blondies, or you will end up with smeared edges and unclean slices, which is frustrating after waiting this long.

How to Make Peanut Butter Blondies

Follow these steps to make these chewy peanut butter blondies. Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make Blondie Batter

Step 1: Prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 325°F convection or 350°F conventional. Spray a 9-inch square pan (for thicker blondies) or a 9×13-inch pan (for thinner blondies) with nonstick spray, then line it with two crisscrossed strips of parchment paper, letting the ends hang over the sides like wings.

The spray holds the paper flat against the pan so it does not shift when you pour in the batter. I clip those overhanging wings down with small metal binder clips, which keep them from folding over the blondies while they bake.

Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined. Set the bowl aside.

Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, melted butter, peanut butter, and sugar until the mixture is completely homogeneous and smooth. Keep whisking until the batter looks glossy and uniform, with no visible streaks of butter or peanut butter. That emulsification is what gives the finished blondies their dense, fudgy structure rather than a greasy, separated crumb. (photos 1 & 2).

Whisk the eggs in the bowl first on their own before adding the butter, peanut butter, and sugar. It makes getting to that fully emulsified, glossy mixture much faster.

Step 4: Fold in the dry ingredients. Pour all the dry ingredients into the wet mixture at once, then fold everything together with a rubber spatula. The batter thickens considerably as soon as the flour goes in, which is why a whisk will not work here. Fold until the flour just disappears and the batter looks thick, smooth, and slightly tacky. If you are adding peanut butter chips or any mix-ins, fold them in now. (photos 3 & 4).

Step 5: Spread the batter into the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it into an even layer, all the way to the corners. The batter is thick and will resist a little, but take your time getting it level so the blondies bake evenly across the whole pan. (photos 5 & 6).

Step 6: Bake until puffed and golden at the edges. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, starting to check at 15 minutes. The blondies are done when they are puffed across the top and the edges have turned golden brown.

Bake time depends on your pan: a 9×13-inch metal pan will be done closer to 15 to 20 minutes, while a 9-inch square metal pan takes closer to 25 minutes. Glass or Pyrex dishes run slower than metal and will need an extra 5 minutes or so.

Step 7: Cool completely before removing from the pan. Set the pan on a wire rack and let the blondies cool fully in the pan. Resist cutting into them while they are warm, the center will look set but the structure is still soft, and slicing too soon gives you ragged, uneven edges. Once completely cool, lift the whole slab out using the parchment wings.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

These blondies are the kind of bar I make when I want something rich and satisfying without turning on the mixer for a full cake. If you liked this recipe, browse more brownies & bars recipe or make these lemon blondies for a bright treat!