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All Fridays in December need something sweet, enter these Salted Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Blondies.
If there was ever a chocolate bar recipe to have in your back pocket, it should be these blondies. In fact, I should really be calling these Back Pocket Salted Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Blondies…but I’m feeling like that title might be a little on the long side.
Point is, these are the best blondies I’ve ever had. Granted, I haven’t had a lot of blondies, nor made a lot of blondies (although I do have a recipe on HBH from my very first year of blogging…the photos are scary), but still these blondies here are the best.
Milk chocolate + peanut butter + flaky salt.
I mean, what’s not delicious about that, you know?
I mentioned yesterday that my parents have a ton of guest in town. Here’s the thing, when my parents have guests in town, that means I have guests in town too. For those of you unfamiliar, I live next door to my parent’s house, maybe a football field away from each other, and everyone who comes to visit knows two very important things, my house has the food…and the alcohol.
Sometimes I really wish this was not the case, but for the most part, I don’t mind being the place that everyone comes to for good eats. My two younger brothers, Malachi and Red are currently home and with them come friends. Many friends. Red’s home for a couple snowboard competitions, and Kai is here to film both new recipe videos for the HBH Instagram and Red snowboarding…although he’s mostly been filming Red these days.
Anyway…we have a lot of people around right now. The boys will be here into January and the rest of the family comes in a couple of weeks for Christmas (can’t wait to see my cousins!), so I’m going to have plenty of mouths to feed. This means I need some really good dinners, and even more sweet treats,, for people to snack on when they come in from the cold (and let me tell you it is cold, it’s been in the single digits all week and snowing as I write this!).
I decided to make these bars kind of on a whim this week, after many failed attempts at what could have been a very cute holiday cake, but I just could not get it right. After a few cakes, many sticks of butter, and a sweater covered in powdered sugar, I threw in the towel and baked these blondies instead.
I needed to make something that I had confidence would be a success. Thankfully these turned out amazing, because I could not deal with another failed dessert. Again, you just can’t go wrong with anything chocolate and peanut butter.
I really don’t know why this is, but it’s always the simplest recipes that I love this most. This is a one bowl, mix, and bake kind of recipe. These blondies take less than an hour start to finish, and my guess is that you may even have most, if not all, of the ingredients on hand right now.
The recipe starts with melted butter and creamy peanut butter. Add some brown sugar and plenty of vanilla extract. Then add flour and a handful of semi sweet chocolate chips, stir everything up in one bowl (yes stir). Seriously so easy.
The key is layering the blondie dough with some additional peanut butter so you get gooey peanut butter with every bite. Then just bake. But you guys? Please, please just under bake these. Over baking them is going to ruin their deliciousness. Trust me.
During the last-minute of baking you’ll add that milk chocolate and let it just slightly melt over the top of the bars. Then, add flaky sea salt.
OH MY GOSH. I think I may have just described heaven in a Christmas Blondie Bar.
For real. These are fudgy, peanut buttery, moist, doughy, sweet, extra chocolatey, and just a little salty. AKA the most perfect dessert.
Ever.
If you decide to eat these warm, I totally get that. Baked goods are better warm, no matter what any recipe says. Warm and gooey beats cold every time.
PS. packing these up in a cookie box would make anyone who loves chocolate and peanut butter very very happy this holiday season. You should do it…just sayin.
Salted Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2-3 ounces milk chocolate chunks
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.2. In a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt together the butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter on power level high, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the flour and baking powder. Transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill 5 minutes or until the dough is no longer warm to the touch. Stir in the chocolate chips. 3. Spread 1/2 the dough out in the prepared dish. Dollop and then gently swirl the remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter into the dough. Add the remaining dough overtop, don't worry if it does not fully cover the peanut butter. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, just until set in the center. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the milk chocolate over the blondies. Return to the oven for 1-2 minutes to gently melt the chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool and then cut into bars. Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Friday night plans? Blondie making and eating, while watching The Santa Clause. I love December!
Can these be frozen?
Hey Olivia,
Yes, you can go ahead and freeze these! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Hi Tieghan !
Made these today and they are a hit ! So yummy ! Love all of your recipes and this is my second of 3 of your recipes I am making this week ! My husband now asks “ Is this a Half Baked Harvest recipe ?”
Congratulations on your new cookbook and book tour – enjoy every minute !
Hi Susan,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad it was a hit! Thanks for sharing your review and your super kind message!? xT
Tieghan, this blondie variation is delicious! Such a perfect sweet/salty balance. Thank you!
Hi Leah,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that the recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try. Have the best week:)) xT
Luscious! My new fav!! Thank you! ??????
Hi Karin,
Awesome!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was a hit. Have the best week:) xx
How can I cut this recipe to fit an 11 x 7 pan or 8 x 8? Do all your cookies have to be refridgerated? How long will they last for everyone?
Hi Anna,
I would cut the recipe in half and do an 8×8 pan, like stated in step 3, these cookies are good for 5 days in an airtight container. Not all of my cookie recipes need to be chilled, it will be noted in the instructions if so. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Tieghan, These are the bomb!!! Everyone loves them. Question…what peanut butter do you prefer? I was worried my natural one that separates would be too runny, so used jif and they were delish.
Also, comment for Jenelle – try aqua faba for kicks! i’ve been playing around with it in my baking
Hey Lisa,
Awesome! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it. A natural peanut butter will work just fine here! Happy Holidays!❄️ xT
If I didn’t want to use peanut butter will these still be possible?
Hi there,
Yes, that would be okay to do. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Any substitution recommendations for the eggs on this one? Would love to make these egg free if possible.
Thank you!
Hi Jenelle,
So sorry, I have not tested this without the egg, you could try a chia or flax egg! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try! xTieghan
Tieghan!!
I ended up using Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer since it was in the house. These turned out really good!!! I’ve used unsweetened applesauce as an alternative for cookies before, which I almost did!
Instead of putting them back in the oven for 1-2 minutes I pulled them when they were done and just added the chocolate on top. They still get the melty soft goodness even hours later. Delicious recipe as always!
Thank you!!
Hey Jenelle,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed. Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. Happy Holidays!? xx
These were amazing! Such an easy recipe, but the taste is outstanding. I received so many compliments!! I LOVE HBH!!!
Hi Robyn,
Happy Friday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for making it and happy holidays!❄️ xTieghan
I just made these and they are fantastic! Followed the recipe exactly and turned out amazing!
Hey Rachel,
Happy Friday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for making it and happy holidays!❄️ xTieghan
These were very good, and as Katie commented previously, much easier than peanut blossom cookies. I only had milk chocolate chips so I used those on top. They didn’t melt and stuck to the knife when I tried to press them into the bars. Oh well, they’re still good! Can you give any brand recommendations for the milk chocolate chunks? I’m wondering if it needs to be a high quality chocolate? Thanks for a yummy and time saving recipe!
Hi Jan,
Awesome! Love to hear that you liked the recipe, thanks a bunch for trying it out! I like using Chocolove or Lindt. Happy Holidays! xx
I was not a fan. These were bland and needed salt in the batter desperately. Skip this recipe.
Hi Rasha,
So sorry you did not enjoy the recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Hi can you post metric measures please. As look delicious
Yes, I usually just use a converter online which is super helpful! xTieghan
THESE WERE SO GOOD!!! I forgot to add the baking powder because my kids were being crazy lol and they still turned out fantastic! I used M&Ms on top instead of the milk chocolate because that’s what I had on hand, highly recommended that!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Hey Amy,
I am so thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! Happy Friday! xTieghan
IN CRE I BLE!!! Facil y deliciosa!
Thanks so much! xTieghan
please help! we have your “Super Simple” cookbook and made this recipe from that, except it calls for a box of brownie mix and 4 eggs and 6T of salted butter. We thought they were cooked enough, after resting over night and cutting in to them the brownie was still almost a pasty not liquid but not gooey substance, clearly not cooked enough. We followed the recipe to the T. Also side not for user friendly future recipe layout, the directions would have been more clear had you broken out the ingredients for the blondie from the brownie ie) the butter layout if misleading. Thanks for any advice.