These molten ‘brown butter’ vegan peanut butter brownies make just 8 perfectly fudgy brown butter brownies with soft, peanut butter centers. No eggs, no dairy, and it’s absolutely a chocolate lover’s dream!

sliced vegan peanut butter brownie

Reasons why you’ll love this small batch peanut butter brownie recipe:

If you’re a chocolate peanut butter fiend like me and love a good small batch recipe, then you absolutely need to make these FUDGY decadent small batch peanut butter brownies.

We have a rich, brown butter brownie batter that’s layered with a peanut butter center that’s reminiscent of a Reese’s peanut butter cup in brownie form. All baked and topped with more molten peanut butter cups!

OH, and the best part? You don’t need any eggs nor dairy to make these unbelievably vegan peanut butter brownies. I’m serious. The ingredients are so simple, you probably have them in your pantry right now!

sliced peanut butter brownies

Do I need to use ‘brown’ vegan butter?

I personally love vegan brown butter in this small batch peanut butter brownie recipe- it adds to the nutty, richness of the brownies! And it’s quite amazing how well vegan butter browns compared to regular dairy butter (Miyoko’s is my favorite brand!).

However, you can skip the browning all together by using 1/4 cup (57 g) melted vegan butter instead of the listed amount (1/3 cup, which reduces down to 1/4 cup in the browning process).

Overview: Step by Step how to make vegan peanut butter brownies:

As with all of my recipes, the full brownie recipe is written in the recipe card down below. However, we’ll go over the basics here!

ingredients for peanut butter brownies
fudge sauce for peanut butter brownies
brownie batter
peanut butter brownies
baked peanut butter brownies
sliced peanut butter brownies

Expert tips for making this small batch peanut butter brownie recipe:

  • Move quickly for assembling the brownies: The brownie batter will thicken more as the chocolate in it cools so in order to keep it spreadable, you want to move quickly after you’ve made the brownie batter into the assembly step.
  • Don’t want to use peanut butter? Use your favorite nut butter or seed butter instead. I also recommend Biscoff cookie butter for nut free!
  • Need gluten-free? I like King Arthur measure-for-measure gluten free flour.
  • Use a kitchen scale: Because the brownies can go from fudgy to cakey really quickly, you want to be super careful with measuring your ingredients. The best method is to use a kitchen scale to avoid over-scooping the flour. Otherwise, make sure you are spooning and fluffing the flour so as to not pack it in too much!
sliced vegan peanut butter brownies

If you make these peanut butter swirl brownies, be sure to leave a comment down below, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find these vegan brownies!

I hope you love these brownies as much as I do! Cannot wait to see your recreations of them on Instagram and Pinterest 🙂 Until next time, happy baking and swirling!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

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sliced vegan peanut butter brownie

Small Batch ‘Brown Butter’ Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These molten ‘brown butter’ vegan peanut butter brownies make just 8 perfectly fudgy brown butter brownies with soft, peanut butter centers. No eggs, no dairy, and it’s absolutely a chocolate lover’s dream!

Ingredients

Scale

Peanut Butter Filling:

  • 1 cup (240 g) creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup (57 g) vegan butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Brown Butter Brownies:

  • 1/3 cup (80 g) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup (25 g) high quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder*
  • 3 ounces vegan chocolate
  • 1/8 cup (40 mL) dairy free milk, room temperature*
  • 1/3 cup (75 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) dairy free yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 3/4 cup (100 g) all-purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
  • 1/4 cup (40 g) vegan chocolate chips, additional

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9×5 loaf pan with wax paper. Then we’ll switch to parchment paper. Keep in mind that if your loaf pan is smaller in width, you might need longer to bake. Read through the instructions and the ingredient list.
  2. Make the peanut butter filling: Whisk together the peanut butter ingredients (peanut butter, powdered sugar, vegan butter, and vanilla extract). It will be a thick dough. Press the dough into the prepared pan with the wax paper and place the loaf pan into the freezer. Chill while you make the brownie batter.
  3. Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, heat the vegan butter on medium heat, melting it down completely. Keep stirring, and reduce the heat to medium low so as not to accidentally burn the butter. Keep stirring until light brown flecks appear in the butter and it has a nutty aroma. Then remove from heat. If not using brown butter, you can use just 1/4 cup (57 g) vegan butter, melted and hot.
  4. Make the fudge sauce: Pour the hot browned vegan butter over the 3 ounces of vegan chocolate in a heat-safe bowl. Let sit for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted into the butter. Then add in the cocoa powder, and stir until dissolved. Set aside.
  5. Dissolve the sugar: In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the dairy free milk, granulated sugar, brown sugar, dairy free yogurt, vanilla extract and sea salt. Mix on medium speed until the sugar is nearly dissolved. If you pinch the batter between your fingers, you should feel very small granules if at all.
  6. Finish the brownie batter: Pour in the chocolate fudge sauce, and mix with a hand mixer again until the chocolate mixture is combined. Then add in the flour, and mix on low speed JUST until the flour is integrated into the chocolate brownie batter.
  7. Fold in the remaining chocolate: Add in the additional chocolate chips, and fold with a silicone spatula to evenly distribute throughout the batter.
  8. Assemble the peanut butter brownies: Remove the peanut butter pan from the freezer, and remove the wax paper with the peanut butter layer from the pan. Reline the pan with parchment paper. Pour half of the brownie batter into the pan and spread to the edge of the pan. Then place peanut butter layer on top, followed by the remaining brownie batter. Spread to the edges of the pan.
  9. Bake: Place the pan into the oven to bake for 30-32 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean.
  10. Cool: Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool for 20-30 minutes. If desired, you can press vegan peanut butter cups onto the top of the brownies.
  11. Slice and serve: Use a large kitchen knife to slice the brownies into 6 or 8 large brownies, and enjoy!

Notes

Gluten free: I like to use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour. 

Vegan peanut butter cups: I like Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups.