Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownies

My Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownies are intensely chocolaty, chewy and an incredibly decadent dessert.

Chocolate and peanut butter are a classic dessert combination. The rich sweetness of chocolate paired with the salty sweetness of peanut butter is a match made in dessert heaven. I actually did a little reserach trying to find out when exactly this combination was first discovered and it seems to be a mystery! It does date back at least to 1928 with the invention of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Sidenote – as I typed that I realized that mini peanut butter cups would be amazing in this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownie Recipe!

Harry Reese actually worked for the Hershey company in the 1920s which is what inspired him to create his own candy company. And Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were originally called “penny cups” because they were sold for just a penny per cup! Incredible, considering that today you’ll pay a dollar or more per cup!

Anyway, I guess there’s not that much about Harry Reese that’s actually related to these chocolate peanut butter brownies, other than I found it completely fascinating. How about we dive in to the recipe?

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownies

If you’ve never used cake mix as the base for a brownie, cookie or cookie bar recipe before, you are missing out! It eliminates a few steps and the result is a delicious, chewy brownie or cookie with a luscious cookie texture. The peanut butter adds flavor and also takes the place of oil or butter, while keeping these homemade brownies moist and tender.

Some tips for making cake mix cookie bars or brownies:

1. Use an electric mixer. Hand held or stand mixers work equally well, so just use what you have. This batter, and typically most cake mix cookie batters, are pretty thick. An electric mixer will save your arms from having to work too hard mixing it up. You’ll thank me later. (affiliate links)
2. Don’t overmix! Overmixing will result in a dense, not so delicious brownie, and this seem especially true with cake mix recipes. Just combine the ingredients enough that you can no longer see the powder from the cake mix.
3. Play around with the add-ins. We loved this recipe with just the regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I think it would be great with peanut butter chips, Reese’s pieces or the mini peanut butter cups.

When they are still warm, these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownies are especially ooey-gooey and rich. Try them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for an incredibly decadent dessert, or let them cool completely for a hand held, super chewy and chocolate brownie.

Here are some more cake mix recipes to try:

• Chocolate Cake Mix Milky Way Cookie Bars
• Lemon Coconut Cake Mix Bars
• Cake Mix Cookie Sandwiches

Love the peanut butter chocolate combo? Try these recipes:

• Peanut Butter Cookie and Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches
• No Bake Reese& Chocolate Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Brownies

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Ingredients

• 1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup melted butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 11x7-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper or foil.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together cake mix, peanut butter, eggs and melted butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in chocolate chips. Batter will be very thick.
• Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly, pressing lightly with your hands. Sprinkle on additional chocolate chips, if desired.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (The center will still look underbaked).
• Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares and serving.
• These brownie bars are especially ooey-gooey when served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and go great with a tall glass of milk!

Notes

For more peanut butter flavor, replace half or all of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips.