All the flavor and texture of peanut butter-chocolate cookies, but much faster and easier. The batter comes together in minutes by hand and in one bowl. In under 30 minutes, from start to finish, you can be eating one of these bars. The peanut butter flavor is present, but doesn't overwhelm the buttery, sweet dough. The edges are chewy, and the interior remains dense, tender, moist, and soft. There's an abundance of chocolate in every bite, perfect for those who love pairing peanut butter and chocolate.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time25 minutesmins
Course: Bars & Blondies
Cuisine: American
Servings: 9
Calories: 428kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
½cupunsalted buttermelted (1 stick)
1large egg
¾cuplight brown sugarpacked
¼cupgranulated sugar
1tablespoonvanilla extract
½cupcreamy peanut butter heapinglike Jif or Skippy, do not use homemade
1 ¼cupsall purpose flour
½teaspoonbaking soda
pinchsaltoptional and to taste
6 ½ouncesdark or semi-sweet chocolateroughly chopped (I used Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Pound Plus Bar, 54%)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute. Allow the butter to cool momentarily so you don't scramble the egg. Add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and stir vigorously to combine, for about 1 minute. Stir in the peanut butter. Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt and stir until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until center is just set and golden (a toothpick test should come out clean if you hit dough but because of the abundance of chocolate, hitting chocolate is more likely). Bars will firm up more in pan as they cool.
Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Store extra bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Bars may be kept gluten-free by replacing the flour with your favorite gluten-free baking blend.