Do you know what the difference is between a blondie and a brownie? Essentially they are the same thing, except one is made with cocoa and the other isn’t! Peanut butter blondies are really simple to make, but they taste divine. Chewy sweet mouthfuls with just a hint of savory with peanuts. Sounds great? That’s because it is! And, I am going to show you how to make them!
How to Make Peanut Butter Blondies
You know me, I like to keep things simple (and I hate washing up), the less equipment I use, the better. If you are similar, then the peanut butter blondies will be right up your street! Here’s what you’ll need. A bowl, a spoon, and a baking tin… Oh, and some scales, the key to this recipe is getting the proportions exactly right!
When it comes to making the peanut butter blondie batter, it is simply a case of ensuring that your ingredients are well mixed! We combine them in stages to ensure that the mixture is nice and smooth.
From there, it is simply a case of transferring all of the mixture into a baking dish and baking in a hot oven. Just like brownies, blondies go all toasted on the edges, and in our house, there is always a fight as to who gets the corners (I swear one day I’ll use a circular dish to stop the arguments).
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure that you measure out your ingredients using the same cup. Get this step wrong, and you’ll end up with blondies that are too soft or crumbly.
- The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the blondies to cool before you can tuck in. When they come out of the oven, they will be very soft, but if you give them enough time to cool down, they will firm up into little chewy mouthfuls of heaven.
- Don’t gut your blondies until they have fully cooled. Otherwise, you’ll end up with misshapen chunks (ok, they taste great, but they lack in the looks department!)
- You can freeze blondies after you have baked them. Once they are cooled and cut, freeze them individually. A couple of minutes in the microwave will work, alternatively about 20 minutes in a 300° oven will do the trick to make them good to go.
- Mix your chocolate chips last. If you add them at the start, you’ll find it hard to distinguish between lumps in the batter and chocolate chips. Nobody likes to find a solid lump of baking powder mid-blondie!
- Unlike cake batter, brownies are meant to be a little soft and unset in the middle after baking. You can tell when they are ready as the edges will be all toasty and golden, and the center will be just cooked. You can use the skewer test… Poke the middle with a knife. You want to it come out just slightly covered in blondie mixture. If it looks a little too wet, pop them back in the oven for a 5-minute blast before repeating the test.
- You can use crunchy or smooth peanut butter. Me? I prefer to use crunchy peanut butter. It gives you the odd little ‘surprise’ crunch. The smooth peanut butter will give the same taste with less texture.
- Feel free to experiment. I’ve tried these with white chocolate chips, MnM’s, and even chunks of toffee. If you don’t like chocolate (what’s wrong with you?), you could also try raisins or chopped cherries.
- For super classy blondies, use a real vanilla pod instead of vanilla essence. These tiny little black seeds are absolutely packed with flavor!
- If you haven’t got brown sugar, you can also use plain old white sugar. I haven’t tried this recipe with artificial sweeteners, but I can see no reason why this wouldn’t work too!
- It is important that you melt the butter. I like to do this in a microwave to save a bit of time (and washing up).
Conclusion
Peanut butter blondies or brownies? I just can’t decide which would taste better? This recipe is super simple and makes the perfect bake along if it’s a rainy day and you’ve got the kids at home. As I said in the recipe, you will have to watch like a hawk if you don’t want people licking the spoon while you are making the blondies! I love the smell in the kitchen when these are baking! Which do you prefer, blondies or brownies? Let me know in the comments!