17 May Peanut Butter Cookie Brownies

A few weeks ago I was in the mood for something really decadent and thought back to my Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Brownies. With a choc-chip cookie layer, Oreo layer and brownie layer, they truly are an indulgent treat! I wanted to create a variation on those, something equally decadent but with a different flavour.

Peanut butter cookies are one of my weaknesses, and I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. So that’s what led me to make these Peanut Butter Cookie Brownies. Instead of Oreo’s for the middle layer, I used chocolate-coated peanuts, which add a lovely bit of crunch and of course some extra chocolate, because why not?

These are delicious as they are, or serve them warm with ice cream for dessert!
If you like this flavour combo try these Peanut Butter Bars too!

Ingredients:

For the Peanut Butter Cookie layer:
100g salted butter, softened (7 tbsp)
140g smooth peanut butter (140ml)
200g white sugar (1 cup)
1 large egg
5ml vanilla essence (1 tsp)
175g flour (1¼ cup)

For the Brownie layer: 
170g salted butter, melted and cooled
275g soft brown sugar (1¼ cup)
10ml vanilla essence (2 tsp)
3 large eggs
75g cocoa (150ml)
175g flour (1¼ cup)
200g chocolate-coated peanuts (1¼ cup)

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 20 x 20cm square tin with baking paper. 
• Make the Peanut Butter Cookie layer first. Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes until creamy and smooth. Add the egg and vanilla essence, and beat well.
• Gradually add in the flour and mix until the dough just comes together. Press into the prepared tin and level the surface by pushing down with the back of a spoon or the bottom of a drinking glass. Prick the surface of the dough several times with a fork.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. The edges will be cooked through but it will still be slightly soft in the centre. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Set the oven to 180°C.
• Next, make the brownie layer. Beat together the cooled melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa. Fold this into the butter mixture and mix until there are no more streaks of dry ingredients visible. 
• Sprinkle the chocolate coated peanuts over the peanut butter cookie layer as evenly as possible. Carefully spread the brownie mixture over the chocolate-coated peanuts. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the brownie batter is cooked (it will still be a little sticky in the centre, but not liquid!).
• Leave to cool completely in the tin then slice the brownies into squares or bars. (You can refrigerate for a few hours to make slicing easier). Serve them as is, or warm with a scoop of ice cream!