Peanut Butter Blondies

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350° F and place rack in the center of the oven.

Step 2

Rough chop peanuts. These don’t need to be very small or uniform, just a rough chop to create a variety of sizes for texture. Place in small mixing bowl with peanut butter chips, toss with about 1 tablespoon of flour to coat. Set aside.

Step 3

Cut an 8x12-inch parchment paper rectangle and place inside an 8x8-inch baking dish so that two sides of the baking dish have parchment paper with an overhang. This will ensure an easy release! Set aside.

Step 4

Melt butter and peanut butter in small saucepan over low heat until combined. Mix frequently, making sure not to brown or boil mixture. Pour into heat resistant bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside.

Step 5

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, combine sugars, eggs, vanilla extract and salt in a large bowl on medium speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. With mixer going, slowly stream in the cooled, melted peanut butter mixture until smooth.

Step 6

Sift flour over mixture and gently fold in with a rubber spatula until combined. Gently fold flour-coated peanuts and peanut butter chips into blondie batter.

Step 7

Pour blondie batter into prepared baking dish, spreading evenly with rubber spatula, making sure to get the batter in the corners.

Step 8

Bake blondies for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and lightly drop the pan on a flat kitchen counter surface two times until blondies slightly deflate. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and return to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes. The edges should look done but the middle of the blondies will appear under-baked. They’ll continue to set as they cool.

Step 9

Cool the blondies in the baking dish for at least 30 minutes before serving. Run butter knife along two edges of pan where blondie is not up against parchment paper. Carefully lift parchment paper up to remove blondies.

Step 10

Store leftovers in wrapped plastic or airtight container at room temperature.