Delicious and made from scratch, crunchy layered peanut butter brownies include whole wheat flour, honey, and natural peanut butter.
Visit AOC's Simple Cookie Recipes page for more great cookie recipes like this!
If you've had a chance to look though the recipe index, you may have figured out that I have a thing for peanut butter and chocolate.
Just a glance through the dessert section brings up Peanut Butter Swirl Bars, Whole Grain Peanut Butter Blondies, Peanut Butter Brownie Sandwich Cookies, and Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls, not to mention the over-the-top Peanut Butter Chocolate Celebration Cake. And that's not even all.
Believe it or not, I actually try to hold back on the combo around here, because it's not Brian's favorite (weirdo...), but after seeing a ton of peanut butter-chocolate goodies all over Pinterest, I couldn't stop myself from creating yet another one.
The result is this recipe for crunchy layered peanut butter brownies. They were inspired by a number of recipes I'd seen that all used boxed mixes for the base and various purchased candies.
I decided to replicate a layered brownie, but using all real ingredients because, really, brownies are one of the easiest things to make, requiring a few common ingredients and usually just one bowl.
Plus, I can always - always - taste something strange in boxed brownies. I'm not sure what it is, but after years of eating food made from scratch it becomes easy to taste the odd flavor in boxed things like cake and brownie mixes.
The result of my experiments? We all loved how these turned out! Real food to the rescue yet again.
Crunchy Layered Peanut Butter Brownies
While they look complicated, these brownies are so easy to make! The first step is to make a batch of a easy one-pan fudgy brownies using whole wheat pastry flour for the first layer.
Then mix up a simple no-bake peanut butter layer, based on my crispy peanut butter balls which are sweetened with honey.
The final step is to top it all with a fun layer of chocolate and natural peanut butter mixed with unsweetened brown rice crisp cereal.
To say that these crunchy layered peanut butter brownies were met with rave reviews is an understatement.
They are the best of so many worlds - moist brownie, soft peanut butter center, and candy bar-like crispy topping. Oh my gosh, are they good!
These would be so great on holiday cookie plates or for parties, summer cook outs, or basically any time you need an easy, decadent-tasting treat.
Yes, easy and from scratch - you can't beat that.
How long do these layered peanut butter brownies last?
When kept in an airtight container, the brownies will last for about a week in the refrigerator (they shouldn't be kept at room temperature for longer than a couple hours). You can also freeze them for longer storage, about 2-3 months.
Can I make these gluten free?
The brownie is the only part with flour and only 1/2 cup, so you can substitute that with your favorite gluten free baking mix and get similar results. I also think you can use a fine almond flour, though the brownie layer might be a bit more gooey/fudgy, though I haven't tried it.
Crunchy Layered Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients
Brownie Layer:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil OR olive, peanut, or sunflower oil
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips dark or semisweet
Peanut Butter Layer:
- 1 cup natural peanut butter creamy or crunchy - your choice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts optional
Chocolate Topping:
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips or semisweet
- 1 cup natural peanut butter creamy or crunchy - your choice
- 1 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 1 ½ cups crispy brown rice cereal or other puffed grain cereal
Instructions
Make Brownies:
- Line a 9x9-inch pan with foil and heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium saucepan, heat butter, cocoa powder & coconut oil until just melted; remove from heat.
- Stir in sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, and mix until smooth.
- Spread evenly in prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top, pressing down slightly.
- Bake brownie layer for 15-20 minutes, until the edges start to pull away from the sides. Remove from oven to cool on a wire rack.
Make Peanut Butter Layer:
- While brownies are baking, mix together all the peanut butter layer ingredients in a bowl and spread over warm brownies (after removing from oven to cool).
Make Crispy Chocolate Layer:
- Melt the chocolate, peanut butter and butter or oil in a saucepan over low heat until smooth (or use a microwave for 1 minute) and stir in brown rice cereal. Pour over peanut butter layer, spreading to cover.
- Refrigerate the pan of layered brownies for about 4 hours.
- Remove from pan using foil overhang and cut into small squares, 6x6-inches (they're rich!). Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Easy Real Food Desserts To Try:
- Luscious Lemon Glazed Cupcakes Recipe
- Cranberry Crumb Loaves or Muffins Recipe
- Classic Cream Cheese Mints with Dark Chocolate
- Classic Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars Recipe
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (Pan or Skillet Baked)
This recipe has been updated - it was first published in December of 2013.
Kathy Thomas says
Hi Jami
I need to take something to Bible study tomorrow and I hope you are looking at your mail.
No grocery around here has whole what pastry flor as a matter of fact the shelves are incredibly low. I don’t know what’s going on.
Can I use another flour?
Thy look so yummy.
BTW your new home is so lovely. I love it. I wish I had your talent working in it. Well at 69 I’m probably not going to find it.
I love my home and love to be at home.I think making it comfortable is so important. I always say you can go home when you can’t go anywhere else!
Thanks for all your helpful hints and other things you put out for us. I have turned so many of my friends on to your site. Now
Blessings
Kathy Thomas
Jami says
Oh thank you so much for your sweet words, Kathy!! I totally agree with your thoughts on home. 🙂
I guess I didn't check soon enough for your study, but yes, you can use any other flour.
Thina says
I couldn´t agree more to your idea of making brownies from real ingredients. I live in Sweden and I can copy your delicious recipe to Swedish and make my own brownie. Thank you!
Jami says
Happy to know that, Thina - and to know that you can translate it to work in Sweden. 🙂
ariana says
Hey, new baker here,Can I substitute coffee for espresso powder?
Jami says
Sorry I didn't see your comment sooner, Ariana! No, you can't sub liquid coffee for the powder, as it will mess with the consistency. You can sub a regular instant coffee powder or leave it out - it's just to give the brownies more depth of flavor (but they'll still be great!).
Anna says
Hi Jami, I made these and took them to work today. They lasted about 5 minutes!!!! Thank you so much for this recipe - as always your recipes are great. Anna
Jami says
Thanks so much, Anna - glad they were a hit!
becky says
I needed a recipe for a dessert to take to our staff Christmas party tonight. I received this one in my email yesterday and thought, "Hey, I have all those ingredients!" I made it last night before I went to bed, cut the edges off this morning, and cut the rest into squares. My husband and I nibbled on the edge pieces with our morning coffee. Holy moly, is this recipe ever delicious! Thanks for posting it, Jami!
Jami says
Glad you liked them, Becky!!
Abby says
I'm drooling over here... these look delicious! Thank you for posting!
daisy says
Man, those look good. I may have to stuff hubby's stocking with those. Thanks for the scratch recipe, Jami!
Shelly says
Those looks delicious. But then I love anything with chocolate and peanut butter in it. 🙂