Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (Printable Version)

Decadent, fudgy brownies enhanced by peanut butter cups for a crowd-pleasing dessert.

# Ingredient List:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
03 - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
04 - 1/2 teaspoon salt

→ Wet Ingredients

05 - 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
06 - 2 cups granulated sugar
07 - 4 large eggs
08 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

→ Mix-ins & Filling

09 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 - 16 mini peanut butter cups

# How to Make:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
03 - In a large bowl, combine melted butter and sugar. Whisk until glossy.
04 - Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract.
05 - Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
06 - Gently fold in chocolate chips.
07 - Spread half of the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan.
08 - Arrange the peanut butter cups evenly over the batter.
09 - Spoon the remaining batter over the peanut butter cups, smoothing the top with a spatula to cover completely.
10 - Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
11 - Allow to cool completely in the pan before lifting out and slicing into squares.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • The peanut butter cups stay intact and gooey inside instead of dissolving into the batter, creating pockets of surprise.
  • You can have these ready to bake in under 25 minutes, which means last-minute dessert actually becomes possible.
  • One pan, no fancy techniques, and somehow they look like you spent hours perfecting them.
02 -
  • Do not use hot melted butter straight from the stove when mixing with eggs or you'll end up with scrambled eggs in your brownies, a mistake I learned by making it.
  • The toothpick test is your friend, not the bake time, because every oven runs different and those peanut butter cups in the middle stay soft no matter what.
03 -
  • Use a bench scraper or thin knife dipped in hot water to cut clean squares, wiping between each cut, because brownie batter sticks to dry tools.
  • If your peanut butter cups are standard size instead of mini, halving them and spacing them further apart prevents one brownie from getting two halves while another gets none.
Go Back