Gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies
Gluten-free peanut butter brownies are so easy to whip up, that I make them twice a month, and have been for many years! I LOVE them when they’re still warm and gooey! These are what I make when I’m craving a treat, but want to make something super easy!
These gluten-free peanut butter brownies are truly unlike any others I’ve come across in the 30-some years I’ve been baking. The peanut butter flavor serves as a great base flavor but is not overwhelming and the predominant flavor is the chocolate.
Loaded with chocolate chips, these brownies are gooey and melty chocolatey just out of the oven. After they set, they become perfectly chewy. I enjoy them both ways.
I’m relentless in my pursuit of the “perfect” version of any recipe I try. If I try a recipe and it doesn’t turn out, I try another one and another one. Often, I’ll end up combining the best parts of several recipes to come up with my own perfect version. This recipe I’m sharing today came about exactly opposite!
I actually started with this perfect recipe for peanut butter brownies, and trying other versions over the years has only solidified this one as my favorite! Similar recipes are usually called “Blondies”, and I find the dough base is lacking in flavor. The peanut butter in this base really makes these so good!
The recipe for peanut butter brownies found its way to me via my 7th grade cooking class at junior high school! Surprised? Me too! I only wish I still could remember who my teacher was that year so I could send her a link to this blog post. That class really sparked my interest in baking and I cherished all of the recipes I was given in class, keeping several to this day.
I can still remember just as class was ending the day we made these! It was the day we were learning about using a mixer, and what it meant to cream butter and sugar. When they were finished, we pulled the brownies out of the oven, cut them very quickly, and headed out of class with our still-hot brownies on a napkin. It is one of the very few good memories I have of those years.
I am trying to block out the memory of what I looked like as I carried that yummy brownie: a 13 year old awkward girl with braces, mall bangs and pegged pants. I’d like to think that a lot has improved since I was 13 – my appearance and my cooking/baking skills sure have!
Notes on ingredients for these gluten-free peanut butter brownies:
- Gluten-free flour: I’ve tested these with several flour blends over the years. I love results I’ve gotten using gfJules gluten-free flour, Gluten-free Mama’s almond blend, and King Arthur Gluten-free Measure for Measure flour and would recommend any of those.
- Use your favorite peanut butter – natural peanut butter is fine too! I’ve tested this with many kinds over the years and they’ve all worked well. I usually reach for Jif Natural as that’s one of my favorites.
- For the chocolate, I reach for my usual favorites: Guittard semi-sweet morsels, Enjoy Life mega-chunks, or Trader Joe’s chocolate chips. Feel free to use your favorite – even milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips if you prefer those!
- To make these dairy-free, just replace the butter with your favorite non-dairy butter alternative and use Enjoy Life chocolate.
And if you love this peanut butter and chocolate combo, be sure to make my gluten-free Buckeye Brownies next! Or try my gluten-free peanut butter pie recipe for a cool, creamy dessert. I’ve got my eye on these gluten-free brownie cookies from my friend Celeste and hope to make them soon!
I hope you’ll give these gluten-free brownies a try. They were easy enough for 7th graders, and with just a little adaptation for gluten-free, they are easy enough for gluten-free bakers of all levels! Enjoy!
If you make these and love them, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
Gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe:
Gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies
I've been making these gluten-free peanut butter brownies a couple times a month for 9 years! See notes for easy dairy-free substitutions.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend
- 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup butter or non-dairy alternative, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, use the paddle blade to beat butter & peanut butter together until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add sugar and brown sugar, creaming well.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
- Add vanilla extract and beat just until mixed in.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 additions.
- Beat until well mixed.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread in a well greased 9" square baking pan. I usually use a glass 9" square Pyrex pan for this.
- Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until it looks set in the middle.
- Enjoy a warm gooey brownie, or let cool completely and enjoy a chewy brownie!
Notes
*If your gluten-free flour blend contains xanthan or guar gum then omit the xanthan gum called for in this recipe.
To make dairy-free, just use your favorite non-dairy butter alternative, and use dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks from Enjoy Life.
As always, be sure to double-check all of your ingredients to ensure they are gluten-free.
Pin this to your Gluten-free Dessert Pinterest board:
If you’re looking for more yummy gluten-free brownie recipes, be sure to check out my Gluten-free Brownies Pinterest Board.
Previous photo:
These are delicious!
I have a gas range and 30 minutes was perfect for firmness while keeping them gooey.
Some changes made… I added 1/4 cup raw cacao powder into the batter for more antioxidants. This made it a bit darker. Also, I avoid gums and it still baked well going xanthan gum-free!
My mom church group was gushing over how good this recipe is 🙂
I’m gluten free but my family isn’t. I always get asked to bring baked goods to our gatherings. This recipe was a huge hit and I was told to make sure to bring them to the next function. Thank you for sharing this deliciousness!
Yay Kathy! Sounds like you’re now the official peanut butter brownie queen!
Thanks for stopping back by to leave me this comment! It made my day!
I have made these many times and my family loves them. They taste amazing and you wouldn’t know they’re a gluten free baked good. Thank you.
Yummy!! I’ve never served these to anyone who didnt love them whether they are gluten free or not. I have adjusted the time and temperature to be able to cook them in my air fryer oven so I can even cook them in the summer!
Nancy, I missed this comment back when you left it, but am glad I discovered it now! I’m glad you and those you serve enjoy these as much as I do! I would LOVE to know how you’ve adjusted these to make in your air fryer! I have never attempted that!
@Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen, I just made these last night. I used my oven style air fryer turnrd the temp to 325 and they were done in 25 min
I made these with Better Batter flour and they came out excellent. Thanks for a great recipe.
Why do you use a glass pan instead of a metal one?
This recipe looks like a yummy winner!! I love your concise instructions, not wordy, but clear!!!
I followed the recipe exactly as written, using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour. Texture is perfect, chewy not crumbly. They are delicious.
Oh my lanta! These were so good. It has now been a couple days and they are still soft and chewy.
My differences: used a cast iron pan, reduced baking time to 12 to 15 minutes because I used the toaster oven not big oven, I only used better batter flour and lastly for the white sugar I used a sugar substitute from Wholesum Yum- allulose blend with monk fruit because my oldest has diabetes and this way he can eat more!
I love when dessert also has protein. I feel so much better when the kids are not eating pure suggar
Made these today and they are amazing! The gluten free recipe was so easy and I had all the ingredients in my house already so didnt have to buy more. So delicious! Thank You!
Love that these are a treat but still contain lots of protein to balance out the sugar
Have you tried your recipe with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gf baking flour?
If you use a measure for measure gluten free flour do you still need the xanthan gum?
Nope, if your flour blend contains xanthan, then omit what I’ve called for in the recipe. I usually note that in my recipes but can see that sentence got missed in the recipe card so I’ll go fix that now!
Hi ya. These are fantastic freaking brownies (blondies, but whatever, they have peanut butter and chocolate, what’s in a name?).
First time I made these, they were fantastic and we devoured them.
I decided to make them again. Realized I was missing a few ingredients – chocolate chips, an egg, brown sugar. Oh and I don’t use xanthum gum, it doesn’t like me.
Substitutions: Reeses Pieces.
For the brown sugar: Hemmed and hawed. Put almost the total amount of sugar plus around two tablespoons of molasses (didn’t actually measure lol).
Ooops… Only one egg. Solution there: water-oil-baking powder (2 tablespoons-1 tsp-2 tsps, respectively).
And the ground chia seed slurry (1/2 tsp chia and 1 tsp boiling water).
Pushed the sludgy batter into the pan and shoved it around until it was (relatively) even, put it in the oven and prayed.
Tick tock, tick tock…. Took them out, let them cool. …Well, as much as “CAN WE HAVE SOME NOW???” would allow.
They were still really good. Inhale worthy.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This comment made my night! I don’t know why I missed the notification for it before. I’m so glad you enjoyed these Jenn and also how awesome that they turned out the second time too even with all those changes! Way to make it work!
Michelle, These are so so so good. I had to freeze most of the pan so I wouldn’t eat all of them! Also, I wanted to say I love your site. Before I had to go gluten free, baking was my perfect hobby and I honestly thought my days of baking were over. Now I am starting to branch out with GF baking and your recipes have made it easy to take the plunge. You are awesome!
Sasha,
So sorry that I missed seeing and replying to your comment before. Reading this just made my day! Thank you for your kind words! So glad you enjoyed these too!
Hello i have pamelas baking mix…..can i use that for the flour to make these…ive used kagf flour before but i dont think i have any right now…thank u
Kim, Yes, Pamela’s should work just fine in this. Omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Can you double this and make in a 9×13 pan?
Yes, Sandy! That works just great with this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Best GF Brownies I have ever made….Just so tasty!!
So glad you enjoyed them! I’ve got these on my plan to make again this week too! I love them!
As written in the blog, this recipe still runs the danger of gluten exposure for those who really need to keep it gluten free. Use “Simply Jif,” not regular Jif, not Jif Natural; neither of those are certified or even claimed to be Gluten Free per Jif. Granted, if you have a mild intolerance or the like, you might be able to still use these. But I know my celiac daughter has some very sensitive reactions, and we have to stick with the GF labeled Simply Jif. (I believe there are more varieties of GF Skippy… but I’m a “choosy mother.” 🙂
Tammi,
Thanks for your comment. I encourage you to contact Jif to verify. I contacted them regarding this and received this information from them, June 2014. (I apologize that I forgot to reply with it then, I was traveling at the time.)
My email from Jif says:
Dear Ms. Palin,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the presence of gluten in our Jif® products. For more than 115 years, providing our consumers with the highest quality products has been of paramount importance to The J.M. Smucker Company. Quality products begin with quality ingredients and we employ comprehensive procurement procedures to ensure our products contain only the finest ingredients from reputable suppliers.
Jif® Peanut Butter products do not contain ingredients derived from gluten. We are in the process of updating our product labels to more effectively communicate this. Jif® Peanut Butter products have been verified “gluten-free” per the established U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s criteria, which includes:
Ingredient Screening – The ingredient cannot contain gluten sources such as wheat, rye, barley or their derivatives or hybrids. We also review for the presence of oats.
Testing – While there is currently not a commercially available test to detect the presence of oats, the product must be tested to verify that it contains less than 20 parts per million of gluten.
Manufacturing Procedures – In addition, facilities that manufacture verified “gluten-free” products must have a comprehensive gluten management program. All equipment used in the manufacture of products containing any gluten or oat source must be thoroughly cleaned prior to producing a product that is “gluten-free”. These procedures must be validated and inspected after each clean-up.
Our Jif® Almond Butter and Jif® Cashew Butter also do not contain ingredients derived from gluten. However, they have not been formally certified as gluten-free per the above criteria.
For clarification, Jif® Hazelnut Spreads and Jif® Whipped Peanut Butter & Chocolate Flavored Spread may contain ingredients derived from gluten. As such, they are not considered gluten-free.
Thank you for your inquiry regarding Jif® products. If you have any further questions, please contact us at 800-283-8915, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.