Fudge Brownies – Rich Brownie Recipe with Peanut Butter Frosting

My favorite treat is anything that features a combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  These rich fudge brownies have a delicious and creamy peanut butter frosting that will knock your socks off. The recipe is perfect for a potluck dinner or bake sale and your family will have this book marked as their favorite dessert!

These chocolate brownies with peanut butter frosting are so fudgy and intensely rich.  The thick layer of pure creamy icing takes a normal brownie into a whole new candy-like experience.

I’ve been on a brownie-making spree lately.  My family loves the taste of them and I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of varieties. These cookie dough brownies are one of my latest creations.

Do you love peanut butter and chocolate like I do? Check out this recipe for buckeye fudge.

Remember the scene from Lost when Claire and Charlie were eating from an imaginary jar of peanut butter?  That could be me, especially if you add some chocolate to the mix.

I am a Reese’s girl, folks.  The combination of the two flavors has always been my personal favorite.  Santa even has instructions to put ONLY those two tastes in my Christmas stocking each year!  This recipe gives me my two loves in a rich and dense brownie recipe that just won’t disappoint.  (For a lighter brownie with similar flavors try my white chocolate peanut butter brownies.)

One of the things that I love about this recipe is that I can make the brownies on the stove top with just a whisk, and the frosting in a bowl with an electric mixer. There is no need to clean the mixing bowl between the brownies and the frosting!

Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting

Start by melting the butter, chocolate chips, and cocoa together in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat until it is a nice silky mixture.

Stir this until it is smooth. then remove from the heat and stir in the granulated sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time and then the vanilla extract. The mixture will start to look fudge-like at this stage.

The last step for the brownie batter is to whisk the combined baking powder, salt, and flour into the chocolatey mixture until it is just incorporated.

It will look a bit grainy but will cook out very smoothly. It looks good enough to dive right in there for a taste right now!

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownies comes out clean. Set the pan aside to cool.

My favorite part – making peanut butter frosting for brownies.

Time to elevate your brownie game with a thick layer of buttercream frosting that has been flavored with peanut butter. This incredible topping is a mixture of butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and 2% milk.

Stir the butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together until a thick paste forms. Gradually stir in the milk and use the mixer to beat the peanut butter frosting until it is very smooth.

Is your butter not at room temperature?

Here is a cooking tip.  If you don’t want to wait for the butter to come to room temperature, just grate it. Instead of large chunks of butter in the frosting, you’ll have tiny pieces that the mixture can easily incorporate to make it smooth.

It works perfectly in just seconds and is better than overdoing it in the microwave and having it end up melted!  Just grate the butter and it will get a much softer texture. 

This delicious frosting is so fast and easy to make.  It just took me a few minutes and it was ready to get added to the brownies in a nice thick layer.

Spread the creamy frosting over the cooled brownies, cut them into 16 squares, and serve. I find it easier to cut any brownies if I put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before I cut them.

This gives them nice clean edges, especially when you are cutting the slices smaller to save calories.

Want to make these peanut butter brownies a bit more special? 

Melt some dark chocolate with a bit of coconut oil in the microwave and add it to an icing bag.  Then just drizzle the dark chocolate over the top of the peanut butter frosting. 

This gives the brownies a look that is perfect for even a special dinner party.

Go for the Reese’s!  Add a piece of peanut butter cup to the top of each brownie for a special treat and extra peanut butter cup taste.

Time to taste these fudgy peanut butter brownies

Every bite of these peanut butter fudge brownies will have you thinking of Reese’s peanut butter cups. They are rich and decadent with the most delicious peanut butter frosting you will ever come across. 

Seriously, I wondered if the frosting was going to make it to the brownies when I first tasted it. It is THAT good. I could happily swim in the stuff. 

These brownies have a dense, fudge-like texture and the creamy peanut butter frosting is one of those “lick the plate clean” toppings. 

They are a super rich & decadent dessert – the BEST brownie you will ever have!

I’m not messing around with the frosting either. Claire and Charlie would be proud.  The creamy icing is thick for a super-rich treat.

This recipe makes 16 brownies, each with 261 calories.  Or eat them all yourself…I’m not judging. I promise!

Store these sweet treats in an air-tight container for up to a week, but I bet that they won’t last that long!

Need some more chocolate brownie inspiration? Try one of these recipes, as well.

• Bailey’s Irish Cream Brownies with a chocolate ganache
• Holiday-Shaped Brownie Pops
• Cheesecake brownie Bars
• Rich Fudge Brownies with peanut butter and pecans.
• Heath Bar Brownies with a Chocolate ganache

Admin note:  This recipe first appeared on the blog in October of 2013.  I have updated the post with a step-by-step tutorial to make it easy to make these fudge brownies, and have also added the nutritional information on the recipe card.

Yield: 16

Fudge Brownies - Rich Brownie Recipe with Peanut Butter Frosting

Print

These Delicious chocolate brownies have a creamy peanut butter frosting that takes the dessert to a whole new level.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Brownies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp 2% milk

Optional Drizzle

• 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp coconut oil
• 4 mini peanut butter cups, cut into quarters

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 º F. Prepare a 9 x 9 square pan by lining it with parchment paper and set it aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate chips and cocoa together over medium low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add in the eggs, 1 at a time and then add the vanilla extract.

Gently whisk in the combined flour, salt and baking powder until just incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the middle. Set aside to cool.

For the frosting, stir butter, peanut butter, vanilla and powdered sugar together until a thick paste forms. Stir in milk slowly and then mix vigorously until smooth. Spread over the cooled brownies, cut into bars and serve.

Optional drizzle: (19 extra calories)

For a bit more of a fancy look, you can melt some dark chocolate chips with a tsp of coconut oil in the microwave and add it to an icing bag and drizzle over the top of the brownie. Add a piece of a cut peanut butter cup in the center of each brownie. This gives the brownies a dinner party look!

Store the brownies in an air tight container for up to a week.

Notes

Nutritional information is for the brownies without the drizzle or peanut butter cup topping. Adding them adds 19 calories to each brownie.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261.7Total Fat: 13.7gSaturated Fat: 8.0gUnsaturated Fat: 3.7gCholesterol: 21.4mgSodium: 970mgCarbohydrates: 35.2gFiber: 0.7gSugar: 28gProtein: 1.6g

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