Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

What can I say, while I don’t eat white processed sugar, I am still a sucker for sweets. So for my hubby and my 8 year anniversary this year I had to make something new. I tried making 2 new recipes using peanut butter. One turned out amazing, the other needs some work. So I am sharing the Peanut Butter Brownie Bars recipe that was a hit for all members of our family.

In past years we have bought a giant Dairy Queen peanut butter cup cake and ingested large quantities of sugar and who knows what other ingredients (I refuse to look up the ingredients of my beloved DQ cake). This year (while I did give my hubby a DQ gift card so he could go pick up whatever treats he wanted), I wanted to personally keep away from that addictive white sugar. So, we celebrated by dressing up and heading to Fogo de Chao (amazing restaurant). We ate far too much meat, then enjoyed our brownie bars the next day once we had recovered from our meat coma. My husband enjoyed both brownie bars and DQ heaven.

(Oh, and a little plug for my amazingly talented sister in law. She made the pretty bird necklace I am wearing in the photo. Almost any jewelry I wear is made by Ashlee. If you would like to check out her blog click here, or her store “My Sweet Nomsa click here).

These peanut butter brownie bars are sweetened with dates so they are higher glycemic. But they make for a great once in a while sweet treat! The fat from the nuts in this recipe also help lower the insulin spike you would receive if you were just eating straight carbs and sugar. These are also grain/gluten free, so bonus for those who can’t handle gluten.

I adapted this recipe from one I found on pinterest. I used practically the same brownie base except I tweaked a few ingredient options. And the peanut butter and chocolate crumble topping is different from what Texanarin Baking uses. Check out her recipe here.

My adapted recipe is as follows:

Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

Brownie layer:

11 medjool dates (Be sure to pit them before using AND, I also like to soak the dates in room temp water for a bit if they aren’t soft.)

¼ cup almond butter or peanutbutter (all natural store bought with no oils added or you can make your own)

1 TBS lemon juice (about one lemon worth. This is optional but we like it.)

1 TBS coconut oil 

¼ cup coconut butter 

2 tsp vanilla extract (no corn syrup added)

¼ cup coconut flour

1 pasture raised egg

1/3 cup cacao powder

½ tsp baking powder (preferably aluminum free. I make my own: see notes below. **)

Pinch of sea salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market

1/2 cup beef gelatin collagen (optional for a protein punch)

Peanut Butter swirl:

1/4 cup almond butter or peanutbutter (all natural store bought with no oils added or you can make your own) ***See update below

(I actually prefer using my homemade almond butter since ditching peanuts from my diet but any nut butter will do)

2 TBS coconut butter 

2 medjool dates (make sure to pit them before using)

Chocolate crumb layer:

2 ounces unsweetened bakers chocolate

4 medjool dates (make sure to pit them before using)

3 TBS coconut butter

Splash of vanilla extract (no corn syrup added)

Pinch of sea salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market

Splash of lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

Brownies:

1. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×9 Pyrex glass dish with coconut oil.
3. Place 11 pitted medjool dates into a food processor and process till pasty and smooth.
4. Add vanilla, almond butter, lemon juice, coconut cream concentrate, coconut oil and blend together well.
5. Add coconut flour, cacoa powder, baking powder, salt and blend together well.
6. Lastly, add your egg and blend thoroughly into the mixture.
7. Place mixture into your 9×9 Pyrex dish. Spread evenly with a spatula or spoon.

Peanut butter swirl:

You don’t need to clean the food processor.

1. Place 2 pitted medjool dates into food processor and blend till pasty.
2. Add peanut butter and coconut oil.
3. Take multiple spoonfuls of peanut butter mixture and add dollops to your brownies.
4. Take a butter knife and swirl the peanut butter mixture into your brownies. It doesn’t have to be too pretty since you will be putting chocolate crumbs on top of this layer soon.

Chocolate crumb layer:

Make sure you get most of the peanut butter mixture out of the food processor but it doesn’t have to be entirely clean.

1. Place 4 pitted medjool dates into your food processor and blend till pasty and smooth.
2. Add your 2 ounces of chocolate and chop it up with the dates in the food processor.
3. Add coconut oil, a splash of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and (if using) a splash of lemon juice.
4. Take your chocolate mixture and scoop on top of brownies and peanut butter.
5. You can use the same butter knife to spread the mixture around.

Baking:

1.Place your brownie pan in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. You don’t want to over cook the brownies. If you have used a pastured egg you don’t have to worry so much that the egg is fully cooked.

2.Check the brownies after 10 minutes. The top should have set but they will seem a little squishy/soft. If they are not done, you can place them back in the oven watching carefully till they are done.

3.Let the brownies cool a bit on the stove. Then place them in the refrigerator to cool completely. You can cut them after they have fully cooled. These brownies are the best when served cold rather than warm out of the oven.

4.Try to not eat the whole pan in one setting. Good luck. They are pretty rich so that helps a little.

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**I make my own baking powder and it’s super easy. Just mix 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda (for example 2 TBS cream of tartar with 1 TBS baking soda). I usually make a cup of it and store for later.

***UPDATE: I recently gave up peanut butter and replaced the pb in this recipe with my home made almond butter. They turned out just as amazing! I was pleasantly surprised.