Sorry if I got that stupid song from Grease stuck in your head, I am suffering the same fate too. But I couldn't miss an opportunity to call these "We Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly Brownies", I just couldn't!
These brownies are inspired by my utter disdain of things like golden cookied Oreos, Wendy's vanilla Frostys, and blondies — things where the chocolate was naturally, and got removed for reasons unknown! WHY? Some things should be chocolate, stop trying to make new things without the cocoa. My inspiration was "peanut butter and jelly blondies". Why? Chocolate and peanut butter are the hottest duo to ever exist on planet Earth! Add in jelly, and you have the menage a trois of a lifetime. So here we are, doing just that.
What Flavor of Jelly?
Use whatever jelly flavor you like and have on hand, but make sure it goes with chocolate, you know? Don't use something obviously incongruent like tomato jam or onion marmalade. Use grape, strawberry, blueberry, perhaps orange preserves... something you already know jives with cocoa. I went with a strawberry black pepper jam I made two years ago and need to hurry up and use. Sallie's Greatest blueberry lavender jam would be an amazing choice.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Brownies
Equipment
- 8x8 baking pan
Ingredients
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter (one stick)
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- ⅓ cup jelly (your preference but make sure the flavor goes with chocolate — I used strawberry)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Use clothespins to keep the parchment paper in place if needed.
- Warm the ¼ cup peanut butter and butter in a microwave safe vessel for 30 seconds.
- Mix the white and brown sugars in a stand mixer bowl. Add in the melted butter/peanut butter combo. Mix on low speed to combine.
- Add in the egg and vanilla, mix for another 30 seconds until combined.
- In the mixing bowl, add in the baking powder, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Mix on low speed until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour the brownie mix into the prepared pan and use a spatula to even out the mix and spread it into all corners of the pan.
- Warm up the ⅓ cup of peanut butter and the ⅓ cup of jelly in separate containers, for 15-20 seconds. It should be viscous, but not totally liquidy.
- Use a spoon to randomly drop blobs of jelly and peanut butter across the top of the brownie mixture. Then use a butter knife to lightly swirl everything together artistically, but don't overdo it.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes, and use a clean knife to slice.
These brownies smell heavenly while they are baking, so good you want to stand in the kitchen smelling up the aroma as hard as you can. Even better, they taste just as good re-warmed in the microwave the next day, just for 10 seconds or so or the jelly will turn into molten lava in your mouth.
Looking for other recipes that use jelly? Try peanut butter and jelly thumbprint cookies, and jelly cocktails.