Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blondies

If you love Peanut Butter, you will love this recipe for Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blondies. They're packed with all the good stuff: rich browned butter, creamy peanut butter, and a generous heap of chopped peanuts for that extra crunch. These blondies are incredibly simple to make and perfect for popping into lunchboxes or bringing to potlucks. Trust me, they're a hit wherever you take them!

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: This is gluten free peanut blondie recipe is very forgiving. I use my own gluten free flour blend in this, but it works great with King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1. Those blends do contain xanthan gum.

Brown Butter: The browned butter gives the Gluten-Free Peanut Blondies a hint of nuttiness and keeps them soft and chewy. Brown Butter is made by slowly cooking butter over low heat. The butter turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, and the milk solids separate into brown specks that sink to the bottom. Brown butter smells like toasted hazelnuts. If you have never made brown butter before, make sure to check out my step-by-step instructions found here: How to make Brown Butter

Peanut Butter:  I use Jif Creamy Peanut Butter in this recipe. I prefer using the conventional style over the organic style for baking. Organic nut butter varieties with only one ingredient tend to create very dry and crumbly peanut butter blondies. I have not tried this recipe with different kinds of nut butter or seed butter.

Peanuts: I use salted Cocktail Peanuts in this recipe which gives the peanut butter blondies a wonderful texture. Please make sure whatever peanuts you use are gluten-free and do not contain any random seasonings. This is often the case with Dry Roasted Peanuts.

How to make Gluten Free Peanut Blondies

One can make this recipe for Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blondies by hand with a whisk but you may also use a hand mixer or your stand mixer. This recipe is for an 8x8 baking pan but can easily be doubled (Baking times will change)

1. Preheat the oven to 335F. Line a square 8" baking pan with parchment paper and set it aside. Leave some overhang so you can easily remove your blondies from the pan.
2. Put the salted peanuts in your food processor or blender and pulse them until they resemble very coarse breadcrumbs. You still want to see bits and pieces of peanuts. You can also place them in a zip lock bag and break them up into smaller pieces with a rolling pin. Set aside.
3. Combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and kosher salt and whisk together. Set aside.
4. Place the unsalted butter, straight from the fridge or freezer, in a heavy-bottom saucepan. If you happen to have a pan or pot with white enamel, I recommend using that (this makes it easier to see the milk solids caramelize).
5. Let the butter melt and allow it to simmer at medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the additional milk powder. It will start to get thick and foamy and within seconds can witch to a rapid bubble. Make sure to stir it with a heat-proof spatula and get to the bottom of the pan.
6. Continue cooking and stirring until the butter starts to smell nutty and turns a medium amber color.
7. Remove from the heat and transfer the brown butter to a small bowl and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Make sure to get all the brown bits.
8. In the meantime combine the peanut butter, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, room temperature large egg and egg yolk in a mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth and creamy.

8. Carefully add the slightly cooled brown butter to the mixed egg-sugar mixture. I like to do this little by little since it can get tricky to add the melted butter and keep whisking at the same time. Adding the warm butter to the sugar mixture will help the blondies to create a beautiful top.
9. Once your wet ingredients are fully combined, fold in the dry ingredients. This is easier with a flexible spatula than a whisk. When there are just a few streaks of flour visible, add the chopped peanuts. Fold in about ⅔s of the chopped peanut. Make sure not to overmix the blondie batter.

10. Add the batter to the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with the back of a spoon or an offset knife.
11. Top the peanut butter blondie batter with the remaining chopped peanuts, lightly pressing them into the batter.
12. Bake the gluten-free peanut blondies at 335F for 22-24 minutes. 22 minutes will give you a fudgier blondie while 24 minutes (or longer) will give you an almost fully baked blondie. Baking times depend on your oven and the size of baking pan used.
13. Remove the peanut butter blondies from your oven, sprinkle them with some flaky sea salt (if using), and allow for them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving (IF you can wait this long).

Storage & Freezing

I suggest storing peanut butter blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. Like many gluten-free baked goods, they're at their best on the day of baking and the following day. Especially during summer months baked goods tend to dry out quicker.

Blondies freeze exceptionally well. After baking, cooling, and cutting the peanut blondies, freeze the individual pieces on a sheet tray. Once frozen, transfer them to an airtight container or Ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. If you prefer, wrap each blondie in plastic wrap before placing them in the freezer container to reduce the risk of freezer burn. Thaw them at room temperature when you're ready to enjoy.

Variations of Peanut Butter Blondies

This recipe for peanut butter blondies is a great base recipe to have on hand and can easily be adapted. Replace the chopped peanuts with chocolate chips, chopped up peanut butter cups, M&Ms or Reese's Pieces. Even gluten free pretzels can make a delicious addition. For an 8x8 pan, I like to use around 90-100 grams of add-ins. For a 9x13 pan, I recommend around 180-200 grams of add-ins.

Note about Salt in my Recipes

I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Since takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.