You know I am not a fan of proclaiming various cookies or desserts The Best Ever.But my gosh if this does not come close to the Best Peanut Butter Blondie EVER. Even if Lisa Yockelson calls it something else! (Laura’s note June 7, 2014: this recipe is so awesome I made it again, with better pictures. Actually my daughter Alex made it, from the recipe below! So I am adding the better picture below, and telling you to come check out how great of a job did Alex did making these 5 years–ack!–later!)
Rich & Chewy Peanut Butter Squares A.K.A. Best Peanut Butter Blondies EVER
Adapted from Baking By Flavor
1 cup (126 g) AP flour
1/4 cup cake flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1/3 cup natural smooth peanut butter
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 t vanilla
1 package Reeces Premier Baking Pieces (mini PB cups)
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Spray an 8X8 baking pan and line it with parchment paper that overhangs the sides (you will use it to lift the blondies out of the pan). Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Sift together the AP flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl (this is easily done by hand) whisk together the melted butter and peanut butter. Whisk in the brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the sifted flour mixture. Stir in the chips and peanut butter cups. The dough will be thick and chunky.
Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and spread it in evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating front to back halfway through. The bars are done when the dough is set and golden. Let the pan and bars cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice the bars into 4 quadrants–and then slice each quadrant into 4 squares. Try not to eat them all.
Delicious!!!!
Okay I believe you, those look like my next best friend.
IF only I could find those darn mini PB cups I could have the best ever too! These look ridiculously yummy.
These look awesome! These would definitely pass the Grumpy test!
Well, your post has done a couple of things. (1) It has made me ravenously hungry for these blondies. Chocolate and peanut butter are already on the top of my list. Put them in a blondie, and I’m beyond sold. (2) You’ve convinced me to buy the book “Baking by Flavor.” If the recipes in there turn out to look as scrumptious as the blondies you just made, well, then, this could be my new favorite baking book! Love your blog!
Wow. These look SO good!!
It’s a good thing I won’t have to wait as long to make these as I do for the orchid to bloom! (Or your limes to produce!)
It’s definitely the peanut butter cups that put this over the top!
Those do look the best ever! I love blondies and I love the combination of PB and chocolate! thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try it~
Yum!
Yummy! I’d love to have a piece of this right now!
Oh my! these looks insane. My kind of treats. Thanks for sharing.
Saw these on Elyse’s site and had to check out your post. Your photos are gorgeous, and I love the recipe.
After making your the peanut butter crispy squares on your blog a few weeks back (I still can’t quite belive how good they taste!!) I thought I’d have a go at the blondie.
I’ve been really intrigued about what exactly a ‘blondie’ is, but after making it, I figure it’s basically a paler coloured brownie?
Anyway, they were great – but I think the squares are still my favourite!
I found this receipe after some googling… Looks fantastic! I will go shop for ingredients today – and I'm thinking that if I can't find the Reese's baking pieces, I'll just buy PB cups and cut them up. I mean, how can that go wrong?
oooooh dear. I have a feeling I may have to make these.
And then eat them all without telling anyone about it!
cannot wait to try. I love my current blondie recipes, but I am craving some PB action!!
OH MY WORD! These are THE BEST EVER!!! Seriously. EVER. I altered the recipe as follows: I used a package of Reeces mini pieces candy (the ones like m&ms) and then I chopped up some of the actual Reeces peanut butter cups, and put those in the batter (instead of the 3 kinds of chips/candy you used). They are amazing. My kids freaked out, they are now everyone’s favorite! Thank you so much for sharing!!!