These malted peanut butter brownies are chewy, fudgy, and ultra decadent. They’re made with malted milk powder and topped with a gorgeous swirl of creamy peanut butter. Top them with flaky sea salt and you’ve got yourself some next level brownies!
For a few months now, we’ve been doing a little experimenting with malted milk powder. First, we used them in our homemade fluffy pancakes, and now we’ve added a batch of these fudgy brownies (we’re also working on a coffee drink!). It’s one of those ingredients that adds a little something to your food, but you can’t quite put your finger on what that something is. Either way, it’s a tasty flavor enhancer!
These malted peanut butter brownies are mouthwateringly good and come together in a snap. The outer pieces have perfectly chewy edges and the insides are super moist and fudgy. They’re perfect for when your craving something with chocolate!
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Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: You’ll need 170 g or about ¾ cup unsalted butter plus 1 tbsp for greasing the baking pan.
- Dark Chocolate: We love using dark chocolate in our brownies because it’s rich and not too sweet. The chocolate in this recipe is 70% cocoa.
- Granulated & Light Brown Sugar: We like to use a combination of both.
- Eggs + Egg Yolk: The extra egg yolk gives these brownies a richer, more fudgy texture.
- Vanilla Extract: This is used in most baked goods to add an extra element of flavor. There’s just enough to add complexity without clashing with the chocolate in the recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour: We highly recommend using a scale, especially for flour. It’s easy to pack it into measuring cups, which leads to a drier baked good. If you don’t have access to a scale, you can always use the spoon and level method (details in tips section).
- Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: We prefer using this type of cocoa powder in our recipes because it makes your brownies look darker and the chocolate flavor is more intense.
- Chocolate Malted Milk Powder: You can find this next to the regular milk powder at the grocery store. It boosts the taste of the brownies and adds a nice chew to the edges.
- Espresso Powder: This helps to amplify the chocolate, giving it a richer, deeper flavor. Don’t worry about it tasting like coffee. There’s only ¼ tsp in the recipe, so it shouldn’t affect the taste (it won’t taste like coffee).
- Salt: This enhances the other flavors.
- Unsweetened Peanut Butter: Unsweetened peanut butters like Justin’s seem to taste better. We’ve tried other brands with sugar in them and they tasted too artificial and made the brownies too sweet.
- Powdered Sugar: This sweetens the peanut butter just a tad without overdoing it.
How to Make Malted Peanut Butter Brownies
Once you’ve gathered all your ingredients, these peanut butter brownies come together in a flash. The only extra step is adding a bit of peanut butter on top to get that beautiful marbled look.
Step 1: Once you’ve melted your butter and chocolate, whisk in both sugars.
Step 2: Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
This ensures each egg is thoroughly mixed into the batter. Next, whisk in the vanilla extract.
Step 3: Fold in your dry ingredients just until there are no pockets of flour left. Be careful not to overmix or you might end up with cakey brownies. The batter will be slightly thick.
Step 4: Transfer the batter to a greased and lined 8×8″ baking pan. Smooth out the top until even.
Step 5: To create the swirls on top, add dollops of the peanut butter mixture on top of the brownie batter.
Step 6: Take the tip of a thin knife or a chopstick and swirl together the batter and peanut butter. You don’t have to poke all the way down to the pan, just the top layer. And be sure to go all the way out to the edges.
Step 7: Bake for 40-45 minutes, cool completely, then top with flaky sea salt before serving. Enjoy!
FAQ
Place them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag for up to 3-4 days. They can be stored at room temperature or the fridge if you prefer.
– 8×8″ baking dish: metal is best as glass transfers heat differently. If you only have glass baking dishes, reduce the heat by 25°F. For example, this recipe is baked at 325°F (160°C), so if you’re using glass, bake at 300°F (150°C). Just be sure to keep an eye on your brownies since they’ll most likely have a different bake time.
Test them by placing a toothpick or cake tester in the center of the brownies. If it comes out with a few fudgy crumbs on it, it’s ready! If it’s just batter on the toothpick, continue baking them for a few more minutes. A clean toothpick in this case means they’ve baked too long. They’ll still be tasty, but they won’t have the same fudgy texture.
We use the Carnation chocolate malted milk powder. We haven’t tested it with the original flavor, but it shouldn’t affect the texture in any way. It just won’t be as chocolatey.
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A Few Tips
- When not using a scale, spoon and level your flour. Using cups is not the most accurate way to measure, which is why we recommend getting a kitchen scale for baking. However, you can still measure with cups by using the spoon and level method. To do this, fluff up your flour with a spoon then spoon it into the measuring cup. Then level it off with the straight edge of a knife.
- Don’t heat the peanut butter for too long in the microwave. Heating it for a long time can cause it to taste and smell burnt. Two 5 second intervals (total of 10 seconds) mixing in between is sufficient enough. If the peanut butter stiffens up while you’re making the brownies, put it back in the microwave or another 7 seconds or so.
- Wait until the brownies come to room temperature before serving. As mentioned in the last point, when the peanut butter gets really hot, it tends to taste a bit burnt. If you eat the brownies while they’re still relatively warm, you won’t get the full taste of peanut butter. The flavors come together better at room temperature and the swirl topping no longer has that “burnt” taste.
- For clean edges, cut your brownies with a long bread knife. First, warm the knife under hot water, then dry with a towel. If you’re knife is long enough, you should be able to make one clean cut straight down. Wipe the knife clean then repeat until you’ve cut everything into squares. Note: cut your brownies at room temperature. They’re too delicate when they’re warm.
Recipe
Malted Peanut Butter Brownies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 brownies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These malted peanut butter brownies are chewy, fudgy, and ultra decadent. They’re made with malted milk powder and topped with a gorgeous swirl of creamy peanut butter. Top them with flaky sea salt and you’ve got yourself some next level brownies!
Ingredients
- 170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter*, cut into cubes
- 145 g (5 oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 50 g (¼ cup) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 60 g (½ cup) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 50 g (½ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, spooned and leveled
- 80 g (scant ⅔ cup) chocolate malted milk powder
- ¼ tsp espresso powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter
- 2 tsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and grease an 8×8″ baking pan with 1 tbsp melted butter. Line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, chocolate malted milk powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large heatproof bowl, add the butter and chopped dark chocolate. Heat in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. When it’s 80% melted, stir until smooth and combined. The residual heat should melt the rest.
- Whisk the granulated and brown sugar into the chocolate mixture until fully combined. Let the mixture cool for about 2-3 minutes or until it’s slightly warm. If it’s too hot, the heat could cook the eggs.
- Once the chocolate mixture has cooled slightly, whisk in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Mix after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan, smoothing out the top.
- In a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar until combined. Heat in the microwave in two 5 seconds intervals, stirring in between (for a total of 10 seconds). It doesn’t need to be runny. Just warm enough to fall off the spoon in thick ribbons.*
- Place dollops of peanut butter on top of the brownie batter. Then take the tip of a thin knife or a chopstick and swirl the top until you’re satisfied with how it looks. Don’t neglect the edges!
- Bake for 40-45 or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few fudgy crumbs.
- Place the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely in the pan before slicing.
- Top with flaky sea salt and enjoy!
Notes
Butter: You’ll also need an additional tbsp of melted butter to grease the baking pan.
Peanut Butter: If your peanut butter stiffened back up, place it back in the microwave for about 7 seconds.
Don’t Overswirl: This can cause the top to get muddy rather than having a marbled look.
Keywords: malted peanut butter brownies, peanut butter marbled brownies, peanut butter brownies, chewy, decadent, fudgy
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