Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Swirled with creamy peanut butter and topped with lots of peanut butter cups, these fudgy peanut butter swirl brownies are the ultimate dessert for any peanut butter lover!

If a huge peanut butter swirl in my brownies is wrong, then I don’t ever want to be right.

And my goodness, throwing peanut butter cups on top as well? You’re basically just ordering me to eat the entire pan solo.

There’s nothing complex about these brownies, folks! Really all we’re doing here today is making a super simple fudgy brownie batter, swirling a little (okay, a lot) of peanut butter action inside and covering the whole deal with peanut butter cups. It’s a brownie experience to say the least.

Truth be told, they’re almost TOO easy. As in, you’re going to have all the tools at your disposal to make these way too often which may or may not be a problem.

These Brownies feature…

• A crackly exterior and fudgy interior
• Creamy peanut butter swirls and rich peanut butter cups
• A simple batter that comes together in 1 bowl in only a few minutes

Making the Brownies

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Unsalted butter
• Brown sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Kosher salt
• Creamy peanut butter
• Peanut butter cups

Tips for Perfect Brownies

1. Whisk sugars well into melted butter – mixing the sugars and butter for about 60 seconds will incorporate air into the mixture which helps give these brownies an incredible texture.
2. Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
3. Gently fold batter – overmixing will lead to dry and tough brownies so use a gentle hand when folding batter.
4. Use a toothpick to swirl peanut butter – be careful not to overmix the peanut butter into the batter otherwise you will lose the swirl effect.
5. Don’t overbake brownies – bake brownies until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs sticking to it.
6. Allow brownies to cool and clean knife between slices– this will make for neat cuts.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these brownies.

• Try another butter – replace the peanut butter with almond butter or cashew butter.
• Add extra chocolate – fold 1/2 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips into batter.
• Make it PBJ – swirl 1/4 cup raspberry or strawberry jam into the brownies alongside the peanut butter.

Storing and Freezing Brownies

Allow brownies to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

To freeze brownies, allow to cool completely at room temperature, wrap well, and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw brownies completely on countertop before serving.

Sinking your teeth in one of these brownies is sorta like having a next-level peanut butter cup. It’s an experience that every person needs.

In all honesty folks, you’re probably not going to want to ever go back to plain old PB-less brownies again. No one in their right mind can say no to this fudgy peanut-buttery goodness.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Try these other incredible brownie recipes next!

• Marshmallow Caramel Pecan Brownies
• Espresso Brownies
• Black Forest Cherry Brownies

This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 6/19/25.