The classic peanut butter brownies recipe from a vintage American cookbook! Simple ingredients and easy instructions to make perfect peanut butter brownies.
I happen to have a large pile of vintage cookbooks from the sixties and seventies that were published by Better Homes and Gardens. This isn’t the first time I’ve used a time machine to find a recipe; a few weeks ago I flipped through and chose Triple Layer Oatmeal Brownies. Since this is a brownie blog, after all, I needed another brownie recipe for this challenge. So, I wrote down a numbered list of all the brownie recipes and used some dice to generate a number.
And the winner is… Better Homes and Gardens Cooking For Two Peanut Butter Brownies! This peanut butter brownie recipe is featured in the chapter entitled “Desserts … On Call.” I checked to see if the recipe included a beeper or pager, but alas- they did not. Check out the cover; it’s classic 60’s Americana!
Classic American food styling from the 60s
You might notice that these brownies have a milk chocolate taste; that’s due to the slightly reduced amount of chocolate. They also have less butter, too; that’s because the peanut butter contains enough fat to compensate.
I’ve lowered the salt a bit because the 1/4 cup of peanut butter already contains about half the salt of a typical brownie recipe.
Interestingly, these peanut butter brownies come out quite chewy, most likely due to the unsaturated fats from the peanut butter and a slightly higher proportion of sugar to chocolate.
Tips for Making Perfect Peanut Butter Brownies
- In simple recipes, good ingredients make for good flavor. Choose a good peanut butter and good unsweetened chocolate. I’m even picky about good quality butter (I spring for a name brand, to be honest).
- Brownies taste better after they cool. It gives the flavor time to develop.
- Don’t forget to line the pan for easy cleanup!
- If you like brownies, you don’t want to miss my favorite brownie recipe.
Classic Peanut Butter Brownies
The classic peanut butter brownies recipe from a vintage American cookbook! Simple ingredients and easy instructions to make perfect peanut butter brownies.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup peanut butter creamy
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and prepare an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan by lining it with foil or parchment paper.
-
In a microwaveable bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in 20 second bursts, stirring in between, until completely melted and smooth.
-
Blend in sugar and peanut butter. Add salt and vanilla and stir until smooth.
-
Stir in eggs gently until incorporated.
-
Stir in flour until just incorporated.
-
Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth out evenly. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs attached.
-
Cool completely on a rack.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition facts are approximate. Please consult a nutritionist if you have specific dietary needs.
Dom
wow, now that looks like a gooey, chocolatey brownie… and utter perfection. Funny how the old recipes can be the best recipes. I love this book choice too and your dedication to playing by the rules… glad you enjoyed taking part, thank you x
Katie
Thank you for stopping by! I can’t wait to see the roundup.
CakeSpy
I am rabid for those old cookbooks. <3 they're so fun to leaf through, and I especially love the headnotes. I love the idea of the brownies having a more milk chocolatey taste–I often feel that a dark chocolate taste is too strong with peanut butter, whereas a more mild chocolate flavor is like a sweet kiss on top of the rich peanut butter! Nom.
Katie
They are fun! The food photography was SO different back then. I’d like to see someone try to replicate it. (I couldn’t, ’cause I’m no photographer and my camera is old, feeble, and possibly senile.) Today’s food photography is very attractive, but doesn’t have that iconic tableau look.
Aaron at Mad Mimi
What an awesome-looking recipe 🙂 If you’re looking for a beautiful peanut butter to use, I discovered Old Home All Natural peanut butter recently. It’s refrigerated and there are only a handful of ingredients in it (mainly salt and peanuts). I was using Parkers Farm before that, but they had a pretty gnarly recall involving listeria. I’ve been transitioning to refrigerated PB lately in order to avoid hydrogenated oils and extra sugar—and I’m really liking it!
Thanks for the awesome post.
Katie
Thanks for visiting! I recently read “Creamy & Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter,” in which the author recommends several natural peanut butters as his favorite kind, too. Now I’ve got a queue of peanut butters to try! (And that’s not a bad thing!) 🙂