The Ultimate Redbook Peanut Butter Blondies: Soft, Chewy, and Perfectly Peanutty
Stepping into the kitchen to bake a batch of homemade treats offers a unique comfort, and some recipes truly stand the test of time, becoming cherished favorites for generations. Among these culinary treasures, the classic Redbook Peanut Butter Blondies recipe has remained a constant winner, captivating palates with its delightful texture and rich peanut flavor since its original publication. Even after many years, and countless other blondie recipes tested, this particular rendition continues to rank among the very best. Originally shared back in 2008, these bars were praised for their perfect balance of sweetness – present but never overwhelming – and a genuinely robust peanut taste that shines through in every bite. Re-visiting this recipe today, it’s clear why it holds such a special place; it’s simply a timeless masterpiece of a blondie.
Blondies, often seen as the lighter, vanilla-infused counterpart to the classic brownie, have carved out their own delicious niche in the world of bar desserts. While brownies typically feature a rich chocolate base, blondies celebrate the warm, caramelized notes of brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. In this exceptional Redbook recipe, the addition of creamy or crunchy peanut butter elevates the blondie to new heights, transforming it into a truly unique and utterly addictive treat. They offer a delightful alternative for those who prefer nutty, buttery flavors over chocolate, or simply crave a different kind of sweet indulgence that speaks to comfort and nostalgia.
Achieving the Signature Soft and Moist Texture
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of these Redbook Peanut Butter Blondies is their wonderfully soft and incredibly moist texture. You might even discern this quality from the images; they possess a tenderness and a slight give that sets them apart from some of the firmer, denser blondie varieties. This delightful softness is largely attributed to the generous number of eggs used in the recipe. Eggs play multiple crucial roles in baking: they provide structure, bind ingredients, and contribute significant moisture and richness, resulting in a tender crumb. While these blondies might be a tiny bit cakey around the edges—a testament to their light and airy quality—the center remains beautifully moist and absolutely not at all dry. This is a critical factor for a truly satisfying blondie experience.
The secret to their enduring moisture lies significantly in the sugar content. Sugar is a hygroscopic ingredient, meaning it actively attracts and retains moisture from its surroundings, effectively locking it into your baked goods. This prevents the blondies from drying out, ensuring they remain tender and flavorful even a day or two after baking. For this precise reason, it is strongly advised against reducing the amount of sugar if you want to replicate the ideal soft and moist texture. Altering the sugar can lead to a noticeably drier, less appealing bar. However, when it comes to peanut butter, you have more flexibility. While earlier batches of these blondies might have been made with sweetened options like Jif or Skippy, more recent experiments have shown excellent results with unsweetened varieties such as Teddie. Using unsweetened peanut butter can even help to highlight the pure peanut flavor without adding excessive sweetness, allowing the other carefully selected ingredients to truly sing and creating a more sophisticated flavor profile.
The Irresistible Appeal of Peanut Butter in Desserts
There’s an undeniable magic to peanut butter that makes it a beloved ingredient in countless dessert recipes. Its creamy texture, deeply rich nutty flavor, and subtle saltiness create a perfect counterpoint to sweetness, resulting in a balanced and deeply satisfying taste experience. From cookies to cakes and, of course, these incredible blondies, peanut butter adds a depth, comfort, and familiarity that few other ingredients can match. It evokes childhood memories for many, while its complex flavor profile appeals to adult palates equally. In these Redbook blondies, the peanut butter isn’t just a supporting actor; it’s the undisputed star of the show. It infuses every bite with that familiar, comforting taste, which is further enhanced by additional salted peanuts for crunch and a generous scattering of peanut butter chips, melting into pockets of creamy goodness. This creates a multi-layered peanut experience that is both intensely flavorful and texturally exciting. Whether you’re a lifelong peanut butter enthusiast or just discovering its culinary versatility in baked goods, these blondies are absolutely guaranteed to satisfy your craving for something truly special and delicious.
Essential Baking Notes for Peanut Butter Blondies Success
Creating these delightful blondies is remarkably straightforward, provided you approach the process with a few fundamental baking principles in mind. The enduring appeal of this recipe lies in its simplicity and reliability, making it an excellent choice for bakers of all skill levels, from novices to seasoned pros. Here are some key baking notes and tips to ensure your Peanut Butter Blondies turn out perfectly every single time, showcasing their ideal soft, moist, and peanut-rich characteristics:
- **Do Not Overbeat the Batter:** This is perhaps the most crucial tip for achieving a tender, soft blondie. Unlike cakes or meringues where extensive aeration is desired, over-mixing blondie batter can overdevelop the gluten in the flour. This leads to a tough, rubbery, and undesirable dense texture. Instead, beat ingredients on medium or low speed, or even mix by hand with a spatula, just until they are combined. Stop as soon as the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet mixture, and no streaks of flour are visible.
- **Accurate Measuring is Paramount:** While not strictly essential for all home baking, weighing your ingredients, especially flour and sugar, consistently provides the most accurate and repeatable results. If you don’t own a kitchen scale, employ a light hand when measuring flour: spoon it gently into your measuring cup and then level it off with a straight edge rather than scooping directly from the bag, which can compact it and lead to too much flour. For brown sugar, always remember to pack it firmly into the measuring cup to ensure you have the correct, specified amount.
- **The Importance of Ingredient Temperature:** Although the recipe doesn’t explicitly state it, having your eggs and butter at room temperature can significantly improve the texture and consistency of your blondies. Room temperature butter creams more smoothly and efficiently with sugar, creating a lighter, airier base for the batter. Room temperature eggs, on the other hand, incorporate more evenly and smoothly into the mixture without the risk of curdling, leading to a more cohesive and tender final product.
- **Peanut Butter Preference and Flavor Impact:** As previously discussed, this recipe works wonderfully with both sweetened and unsweetened peanut butter. If you prefer a less sweet dessert and truly want the pure, unadulterated peanut flavor to shine through, opt for an unsweetened variety. If you enjoy the classic, slightly sweeter, and more familiar profile, any commercial sweetened creamy or crunchy peanut butter will yield excellent results.
- **Enhancing Texture and Flavor with Mix-ins:** The inclusion of salted peanuts and peanut butter chips is not merely an option; it’s a fantastic way to intensify the peanut flavor and provide wonderful textural contrast. The salted peanuts offer a pleasant crunch and a hint of savory balance, while the peanut butter chips melt slightly during baking, creating delightful pockets of creamy peanut butter goodness throughout the bars. Don’t hesitate to experiment with other additions like white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chunks, or even a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top before baking for an extra gourmet touch.
- **Baking Time is Critical for Moist Blondies:** Pay close attention to the baking time. Blondies, like brownies, are best when slightly underbaked. It is always better to err on the side of caution and slightly underbake them than to overbake, as overbaking will result in a dry, crumbly, and less enjoyable texture. Look for golden brown edges and a center that appears set but still slightly soft when gently pressed. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
- **Cooling and Cutting for Perfection:** This step is often overlooked but is absolutely crucial for the bars to set properly and for achieving clean, neat cuts. Allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before attempting to slice them. Cutting warm blondies will result in crumbly edges and a messy presentation. Once fully cooled, use the foil overhang to lift the blondies from the pan. For even cleaner, sharper cuts, you can chill or partially freeze the baked bars for a short period (about 30 minutes in the freezer) and then slice them while they are firm. Freezing them slightly can actually enhance their already delightful chewy texture upon thawing.
- **Understanding Leavening Agents:** Both baking powder and baking soda are used in this recipe. Baking powder provides the initial lift when exposed to heat, while baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients (like brown sugar and potentially unsweetened peanut butter) to create additional carbon dioxide gas, which further contributes to the blondies’ tender crumb and slight rise. This combination ensures a balanced lift without an overly cakey texture.
Following these comprehensive notes will significantly increase your chances of creating a batch of Peanut Butter Blondies that are consistently soft, wonderfully moist, and bursting with delicious peanut flavor, truly living up to the Redbook recipe’s legendary status and making them a household favorite.
Explore More Delicious Blondie and Dessert Recipes
If you’ve fallen in love with these Peanut Butter Blondies and are eager to expand your baking repertoire, you might be interested in exploring other delightful bar recipes or sweet treats. Here are some related recipes that are sure to satisfy your cravings for homemade goodness, offering variations in flavor and texture while maintaining that irresistible homemade charm:
- Peppermint Cake Roll
- Half Batch Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Caramel Filled Blondies
- Emeril’s Macadamia White Chip Blondies
- White Chocolate Lime Blondies
Peanut Butter Blondies Recipe
Peanut Butter Blondies
Anna
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams, spooned and leveled)
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter (130 grams, use unsweetened for a more pronounced peanut flavor)
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (85 grams, softened to room temperature)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed (160 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
- 2 large eggs (don’t use extra large or jumbo) (90 to 95 grams after cracked, ideally at room temperature)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup salted peanuts (roughly chopped, for texture and added flavor)
- ½ cup peanut butter chips
- 3 oz. extra-dark or bittersweet chocolate OR milk chocolate (finely chopped, optional but highly recommended for an extra layer of flavor)
Instructions
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**Prepare the Pan:** Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, ensuring there’s an overhang on the sides to create handles for easy removal. Lightly grease or spray only the bottom of the foil-lined pan; avoid greasing the sides if you desire slightly crispier edges.
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**Combine Dry Ingredients:** In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined. This ensures even distribution of the leavening agents. Set aside.
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**Cream Wet Ingredients:** In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the crunchy peanut butter and softened unsalted butter until smooth and well combined, about 1-2 minutes. Add the light brown sugar and granulated sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, usually 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is evenly incorporated. Beat in the large eggs, one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Finally, beat in the vanilla extract until just combined.
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**Fold in Dry and Mix-ins:** Gradually add the reserved flour mixture to the wet ingredients. With the electric mixer on low speed, or by hand using a spatula, mix just until blended and no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix the batter, as this can lead to tough blondies. Once the flour is incorporated, gently stir in the salted peanuts, peanut butter chips, and the chopped extra-dark/bittersweet or milk chocolate (if using) until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Scrape the dough into the prepared 9-inch square pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.
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**Bake and Cool:** Bake for 28 to 35 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, but not wet batter. It is always better to slightly underbake blondies than to overbake them, as overbaking will result in a dry, less desirable texture. Once baked, remove the pan from the oven and let the blondies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. This step is crucial for the bars to set properly and for cleaner cuts. Once fully cooled, use the foil overhang to gently lift the blondies from the pan. For even cleaner, sharper cuts, you can chill or partially freeze the bars for a short period (about 30 minutes) before slicing. Freezing them slightly can actually enhance their delightful chewy texture upon thawing.
Notes
— **Room Temperature Ingredients:** The temperature of your eggs and butter truly makes a difference. If eggs are at room temperature, they emulsify more easily with the other ingredients, creating a smoother, more uniform batter and requiring less vigorous beating. Less beating means less air incorporated, which typically results in a denser, chewier bar—a highly desirable quality for blondies. Room temperature butter also creams more easily with sugar, forming a lighter and fluffier base for your blondies, which helps with their overall texture.
— **Storage Instructions:** Store cooled blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days to maintain their freshness and soft texture. For slightly longer storage, you can keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week. For extended storage, wrap individual bars tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for the best texture before serving.