Peanut Butter Blondies

Mmm. Peanut butter.

Peanut butter and I have quite a long history together. I've been friends with this smooth nutty spread ever since early childhood. Back then my peanut butter of choice was creamy-style Jif. Ah Jif. I must have made hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the stuff. And how many times did I pack crackers topped with Jif peanut butter inside of my school lunch box? A lot, that's for sure!

Nowadays, I'm a big fan of all-natural peanut butter, especially of the Smuckers variety. Being made only of peanuts and salt, all-natural peanut butter has a bold, unadulterated peanut flavor. And because it doesn't have any additives or preservatives, it's healthier for you too! I like spreading it on toast and bagels and whole grain muffins. Yum.

But I do have one problem with all-natural peanut butter: It's not very good for baking. I've tried baking with all natural peanut butter a few times before, and it has never worked out. I don't know why, but for some reason, all-natural peanut butter seems to make baked goods really dry and crumbly. And not in a good way.

So recently I've been using Skippy Natural for all my peanut butter related baking. Unlike all-natural peanut butter, Skippy Natural has some added sugar and oil, which I find makes it more stable for baking applications. And unlike creamy-style Jif, Skippy Natural doesn't contain any diglycerides or hydrogenated oils. Which is a good thing!

Anyway, enough chit-chat about peanut butter. Let's get on to the blondies!

These peanut butter blondies are thick and dense and chewy and really good! They are absolutely packed with yummy, nutty peanut butter flavor and are sweetened with with brown sugar, which gives them just a tiny hint of molasses flavor. And while these blondies are really tasty plain, topping them with a little milk chocolate frosting makes them even better! I mean, who doesn't like chocolate with their peanut butter? Seriously.

This recipe is adapted from the peanut butter blondie recipe posted over at Joy the Baker:

Peanut Butter Blondies

2 c (280 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
10 tbsp butter (cut into cubes)
2 c brown sugar
1 c peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 recipe milk chocolate frosting (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 325°.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

3. Place the butter and brown sugar into a medium-sized sauce pan and melt them together over medium heat until the butter is completely melted. Take the pan off of the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.

4. Whisk the peanut butter into the butter/sugar mixture and then let the mixture cool for another 5 minutes.

5. Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract into the peanut butter mixture. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and gently stir until everything is smooth and well combined.

6. Evenly spread the finished batter around the bottom of a well greased 9" x 13" baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean.

7. Place the pan on a wire rack and allow it to cool completely. When the blondies have cooled, you may frost them with the milk chocolate frosting if desired. Cut the blondies into bars and serve.