Layered Peanut Butter Brownies

Total Time

Prep: 15 min. Bake: 35 min. + cooling

Makes

2 dozen

Updated: Oct. 03, 2023
The combination of chocolate and peanut butter makes these brownies a real crowd pleaser. They're so good that they won a ribbon at the fair. —Margaret McNeil, Germantown, Tennessee
Layered Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • FILLING:
  • 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons 2% milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, butter and vanilla until smooth. Whisk together the dry ingredients; gradually add to egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside 1 cup for topping. Spread remaining batter into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan.
  2. For the filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and milk on low just until combined. Carefully spread over batter. Drop reserved batter by tablespoonfuls over filling. Cut through batter with a knife to swirl.
  3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack. Chill until serving.

Layered Peanut Butter Brownies Tips

How do you store these layered peanut butter brownies?

For super clean-cut brownies, chill them in the refrigerator before slicing and serving. After that, store the layered brownies in an airtight container or covered with foil at room temperature on the counter for a day or two. To extend their lifespan beyond that, store them in the refrigerator for up to one week or check out our guide to freezing brownies.

How can you make these layered brownies more cakelike or more fudgy?

Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakelike brownies. To make them more fudgy, the trick is to add more fat, which in this case is butter. A cakelike batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening.

Can you use a brownie mix instead of making the brownies from scratch in this layered peanut butter brownie recipe?

You can use a boxed or premade brownie mix to replace the dry ingredients with good results. Just be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions for baking in a 13x9-in. pan. However, the peanut butter cream cheese filling is best made from scratch. Be sure to use regular peanut butter—reduced-fat peanut butter is not recommended. For more tips on baking the perfect batch of brownies, check out our guide to baking brownies and don’t miss the common mistakes everyone makes when baking brownies, either.

—Amy Glander, Taste of Home Book Editor
Peanut Butter-Reduced fat/Generic
Reduced-fat peanut butter is not recommended for this recipe.

Nutrition Facts

1 brownie: 321 calories, 20g fat (11g saturated fat), 72mg cholesterol, 196mg sodium, 32g carbohydrate (24g sugars, 1g fiber), 5g protein.