Peanut Butter Brownies are rich and decadent with an amazingly fudgy texture. They're studded with peanut butter chips and swirled with peanut butter on top for a chocolate/PB lover's DREAM! And since they're also flourless, they're naturally gluten-free!

Stack of three Peanut Butter Brownies on plate with text overlay.

Well, y'all, this is one of those recipes that I tested, perfected...and then proceeded to make two more times for various occasions within the next week -- simply because they're that good! I think it's safe to say that these are the Peanut Butter Brownies of your dreams. 😉

Aerial view of gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies on parchment paper cut into bars.

About these Peanut Butter Brownies

This Peanut Butter Brownie recipe is made from scratch, but the steps are straightforward and nothing about them is difficult.

Because these brownies are flourless, they have a moist, fudgy texture.

And because they incorporate two types of chocolate, they boast an intense chocolate flavor.

As for the peanut butter, it's found in two forms as well: as peanut butter chips studded throughout the brownies, and straight swirled all over the surface.

Basically, if you are a fan of the infamous chocolate + peanut butter combo, you are going to be very happy you try these beauts!

Ingredients

Real ingredients result in some real tasty Peanut Butter Brownies:

Semi-sweet chocolate. I use chopped chocolate baking bars (such as Baker's or Ghiradelli), but you could also choose to melt chocolate chips. See "Tips, Tricks, & Special Equipment" below (just above the recipe card) for tips on melting your chocolate.
Butter. Unsalted and at room temperature.
Sugar. Granulated.
Eggs. At room temperature.
Vanilla. Pure vanilla extract makes all of the difference here...don't waste your time (and your other quality ingredients) with the imitation stuff. 😉
Espresso powder. Also sometimes labeled "espresso instant coffee." Ina taught me long ago that a tiny bit of coffee/espresso brings out the deep flavor of chocolate with no noticeable coffee aftertaste. I happen to agree and always add a dash of espresso powder to my chocolate desserts. If you don't have any or fear you'll taste it, however, feel free to leave it out.
Salt.
Unsweetened cocoa powder. This recipe was created using a good-quality regular cocoa powder. But you could substitute dutch-processed if that's what you have on hand.
Peanut butter chips. To carry that peanut butter flavor throughout! For extra decadent brownies, you could choose to incorporate some regular chocolate chips or chunks into your batter as well.
Peanut butter. I find that "no-stir" creamy peanut butter works best in this recipe. Heat it until warm and stir it until smooth so that it's nice and thin before drizzling and swirling on top of the batter.

Close-up fo stack of Peanut Butter Brownies on plate.

How to Make Peanut Butter Brownies

(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)

Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper overhanging the top edges. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.

Prepared baking pan, greased and lined with parchment paper.

Use an electric mixer to cream the butter, then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Blend in the vanilla, espresso powder, and salt.

Stand mixer with creamed butter in bowl.

Eggs beaten into butter and sugar mixture.

Blend in the cocoa powder. Beat in the cooled, melted chocolate and, finally, fold in the peanut butter chips.

Cocoa powder blended into flourless peanut butter brownie recipe in mixer.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan, holding back one big spoonful.

Peanut Butter Brownie recipe spread into prepared baking pan.

Drizzle the warm peanut butter over the top of the batter and dollop small amounts of the reserved (spoonful of) brownie batter on top of the blobs of peanut butter.

Peanut butter drizzled over brownie batter in pan.

Use a toothpick to swirl the peanut butter and brownie batter together until the "design" is to your liking.

Aerial view of peanut butter swirled into surface of brownie batter.

Bake until the center is set, puffed, and a toothpick inserted comes out just clean.
Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool. Once completely cool, loosen any non-parchment paper edges with a plastic knife or a thin, hard, plastic spatula (to prevent scratching your potentially non-stick pan).

Use the parchment paper to lift the slab of brownies from the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice into 12 or 16 bars, depending on your preferred size (but keeping in mind that these suckers are RICH!). Wipe the knife clean between cuts for neat edges.

Time. To. ENJOY!!!

Close-up of edges of sliced Peanut Butter Brownies.

Aerial view of Peanut Butter Brownies on cooling rack.

Gluten-Free Version

Since these Peanut Butter Brownies are flourless, they're already naturally gluten-free, assuming that your other ingredients (such as cocoa powder) are also GF.

Helpful Tips, Tricks, & Equipment

Since your chocolate needs to be melted and cooled, this step can be done in the microwave (which is my preference, since it's quick and easy) or over a double boiler on the stove. Just be sure to stir frequently so as not to burn your chocolate, since chocolate pieces (and chocolate chips, in particular) can retain their shape until stirred.
If you melt your chocolate in the microwave, step down the number of seconds in each increment between stirring. For example, I heated my chopped chocolate for 45 seconds and stirred, then 30 seconds and stirred, and then a final 15 seconds and stirred. At this point, my chocolate was nice and smooth. However, keep in mind that every microwave is different -- and different brands of chocolate may melt at different rates -- so yours may require more or less time total.
I prefer making brownies in a metal baking pan as opposed to a glass or ceramic one. Metal bakes evenly and prevents over-browning. Choosing a pan with sharp corners and straight edges will yield nice, neat brownies. And it's actually okay if your pan isn't non-stick since you'll be greasing it and using parchment paper anyway.

Close-up of Peanut Butter Brownie recipe on cooling rack.

So go forth and make these decadent, amazingly addictive Peanut Butter Brownies!

And, psssst...if you end up loving this flourless brownie recipe so much that you decide it might be fun to change it up, you can always swap out the peanut butter chips + peanut butter for other goodies:

White chocolate chips + a seedless raspberry jam swirl?

Milk chocolate chunks + a caramel sauce swirl?

The possibilities are deliciously endless... 😉

Peanut Butter Brownies on plate with more on cooling rack in background.

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