The best brownies are fudgy, chocolatey and chewy and I’ve made plenty of brownies using my tried and tested recipe. But now that I’ve developed a recipe to include peanut butter and they are even better! These are my Peanut Butter Brownies!

I’ve taken my favourite brownie recipe and adapted it to include peanut butter inside the brownie mixture itself as well as having a really attractive peanut butter swirl on top. To achieve the swirl, I melt the peanut butter in a bain marie and keep it warm until I am ready to drizzle and swirl it over the top of the brownies before they go into the oven. The peanut butter I use is the processed peanut butter instead of natural peanut butter mainly because it’s usually what I have on hand. And with natural nut butters, the natural oil separation could cause untested issues with this recipe.

The trademarks of fudgy brownies (who really wants a cakey brownie) are the chewy interior and the crackly crust and edges. These come from beating the eggs well in the brownie batter, as well as the addition of melted chocolate in the brownie batter it turns out! When you beat the eggs (and I beat the eggs in one at a time and then for an extra 45 seconds after the last one has been added), a meringue is formed and this rises to the top when baking and forms a crackly crust!

Make sure to check out my original Double Chocolate Chunk Brownie recipe also!

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60g margarine

90g smooth peanut butter

150g granulated sugar

100g dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 medium eggs

90g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

150g chocolate, any variety, broken into chunks

25g cacao nibs, optional (you can replace with chopped nuts)

50g peanut butter, for swirling on top

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Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Line a 20cm square baking tin with two strips of baking parchment that cover the width of the tin and have extra that comes up the sides.

In a large saucepan, melt the margarine, peanut butter, granulated sugar and dark chocolate over a medium low heat, stirring to prevent the chocolate from burning. Once melted, set aside to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the peanut butter for swirling on top. Place the peanut butter into a small bowl and place into a small saucepan lightly filled with water and melt the peanut butter stirring until it is liquid. Turn off the heat but keep the peanut butter warm in the bain marie.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled down, beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs one at a time, adding the next one only once the previous one has been fully incorporated. After the final egg has been incorporated, beat the mixture for a good 45 seconds; this creates the great crackly crust.

Sift in the plain flour and cocoa powder and fold using a rubber spatula until it has almost been fully incorporated. Add in the chocolate chunks and cacao nibs if using and fold through until the brownie batter is smooth and everything has been incorporated.

Pour the brownie batter into the lined baking tin and use the back of the spatula to level it out. Drizzle the melted peanut butter over the surface of the brownies randomly and then use the end of a spoon to swirl it through on top, leaving some larger parts of peanut butter and marbling some of it in the brownie batter.

Bake the brownies for around 25 minutes. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin for around 15 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool. When the brownies are cool to the touch, use a sharp knife to cut them into 9 squares.

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