Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Blondies (PB Frosting & Ganache!) - Blue Bowl (2024)

Published: Mar 23, 2024 · Updated: Mar 25, 2024 by Stephanie Simmons

Peanut Butter Blondies are the ultimate peanut butter lovers treat! These fudgy blondies are stuffed with peanut butter cups, topped with a luxurious peanut butter frosting, and finished with a silky chocolate ganache. They taste like a giant, fancy peanut butter cup in bar form!

Why you’ll love these chewy Peanut Butter Blondies

• Chewy Blondies – These chocolate peanut butter blondies have a gooey center and a crispy edge. They’re baked to fudgy perfection!
• Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed – Peanut butter cup pieces stud these fudgy blondie bars, and whole peanut butter cups (or peanut butter eggs, or any holiday shape!) are stuffed in the middle of the blondies.
• Peanut Butter Frosting – Spread a thick & creamy peanut butter frosting over the cooled bars.
• Luscious Chocolate Ganache – Silky chocolate ganache finishes these blondies off beautifully.
• Easy Yet Fancy Dessert – This dessert has a few components, but each one is simple and it all comes together to make a show stopping dessert with peanut butter flavor in every bite!

Ingredient Overview:

As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).

• Butter – I always use salted buter because in my experience, it lends the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if that’s what you prefer.
• Eggs – Use large eggs, at room temperature.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.
• Peanut Butter Cups – Use any brand of peanut butter cups you like! I like making these at Easter and using the Reese’s peanut butter eggs. You can use regular mini Reese’s (the foil wrapped cups), any other holiday shape of Reese’s, or any other brand you like. Trader Joe’s has great mini peanut butter cups too!
• Peanut Butter – Creamy peanut butter works the best here (instead of natural peanut butter). You can also use crunchy peanut butter!
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate – Use a good-quality baking chocolate bar (Baker’s, Ghirardelli, Lindt, etc.) for the ganache – chocolate chips won’t work as well because they have stabilizers that prevent them from melting in the oven.

Ingredient Substitutions:

• Gluten-free – I have not tested a gluten-free version of this recipe.
• Dairy-free – Use your favorite, trusted, dairy-free butter sticks & heavy cream to make this recipe dairy-free.
• Nut Allergy – Use sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter if you need to make these nut allergy friendly. Omit the peanut butter cups and use sunflower butter cups or your favorite chopped chocolate candy bars that are nut free.

How to Make this Peanut Butter Blondie Recipe Step-by-Step:

Step 1: Make the Blondies. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter & brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and add the chopped peanut butter cups or peanut butter eggs.

Step 2: Stuff the Blondies! Spread half the blondie batter in a lined 9×13 pan. Add four rows of 3 peanut butter cups or eggs each.

Cover with the remaining batter, scraping the bowl well with a rubber spatula to get all the batter out. (This will look a bit different for you – in this round of photos, I forgot to add the extra chopped pb cups to the batter. Sigh.)

Step 3: Bake. Bake blondies, in a pan greased with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper, at 350 degrees F. Follow the baking time as directed in the recipe card below, until golden brown and just set in the middle.

Step 4: Make Peanut Butter Frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on high speed. Mix in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt until creamy. Spread this on the cooled peanut butter bars. Pop in the fridge to chill while you make the ganache.

See Also

Peanut Butter Homemade Cookie Cake - Live Well Bake OftenPeanut Butter Cake w/ Whipped Peanut Butter FrostingCreamy Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie - Baker by NatureBuckeye Cake: Moist Chocolate Cake w/ PB Frosting - Chelsweets

Step 5: Make Ganache. Finely chop your semi-sweet chocolate. Heat heavy cream to a simmer, then pour over the chocolate. Let rest 5 minutes, then stir until completely melted & smooth. Spread this on the chilled, frosted bars. Sprinkle on chopped peanut butter cups, peanuts, & flaky sea salt before chilling in the fridge until ganache is set.

Serving + Storing this Peanut Butter Blondies recipe:

Slice & serve the bars once the ganache is set. These are rich, so you can certainly slice them small and stretch the yield quite a bit! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Unfrosted bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days (use an airtight container over plastic wrap or foil for the best fresh seal).

Expert Success Tips:

• Oven Thermometer– Anoven thermometerwill tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
• Kitchen Scale –Afood scaleis the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.

FAQs:

Recipe Variations:

• Ganache – If you don’t want extra chocolate with your peanut butter blondies, you can skip the ganache.
• Frosting – These bars are delicious on their own, so you can skip the frosting & ganache if you prefer a less rich dessert.
• Peanut Butter Chips – You can swap in 1 and 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips for the peanut butter cups in the batter if you don’t love peanut butter cups.
• Reese’s Pieces – You can add 1/2 cup of reese’s pieces to the batter with the chopped peanut butter cups, or add 1 and 1/2 cups in place of them.
• Chocolate Chunks – Feel free to add 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks (or dark chocolate chips!) in with the chopped peanut butter cups, if you want a ‘lil extra chocolate.

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• Baking Pan – You’ll need a metal 9×13 pan for this recipe – go with metal, as it bakes much more evenly than ceramic or glass.
• Glass Mixing Bowls – There’s nothing as valuable as a set of stackable glass mixing bowls in the kitchen!

More Peanut Butter Desserts

• Healthier Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
• Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Tart
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie
• Bakery-Style PB Chocolate Cookies
• Buckeye Brownies

More Dessert Bars to Love:

• Brown Butter Butterscotch Blondies
• Gooey Caramel S’mores Bars
• Decadent Turtle Brownies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• Key Lime Pie Bars

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