These delicious Peanut Butter Swirl Bars are the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate in a perfectly tasty cookie bar. They are tender, chewy, and rarely stick around longer than a day in our house! You can make up a batch super quickly since it only takes a few ingredients and bakes all in one dish. If you are a cookie lover, you can not miss this recipe!
Peanut Butter Swirl Bars Recipe
This recipe is one that I have been making longer than almost any in my recipe collection. Some of my earliest and best memories from my childhood were baking with my mom. These Peanut Butter Swirl Bars were a staple in our kitchen for many years. The cookie base has peanut butter in it, but isn’t overwhelming and stays really light and chewy. The chocolate swirl comes from chocolate chips so it is rich and absolutely delicious! The combination of both you get in every bite of these Peanut Butter Swirl Bars is pure dessert perfection. And if you are a cookie lover like me, you can check out my other cookie recipes and my special Thick and Chewy Cookies here!
How to Make Peanut Butter Swirl Bars
I am going to walk through the recipe with you here step by step to help answer any questions that might come up. If you still have one after reading through, feel free to drop me a note in the comments and I can try to help. If you just want the quick version of the recipe you can feel free to skip down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Peanut Butter Swirl Bars Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter- I really, really prefer Jif for baking. When you bake, it doesn’t work well to use natural or peanut butters other than the classic kind.
- 1/3 cup butter, softened- I always use salted butter because it is what I keep on hand. You can use salted or unsalted with little effect on the end result.
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed- You can use light or dark. I usually use light in this recipe.
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c chocolate chips- Use what ever flavor chocolate you prefer. I love dark chocolate so I always use the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips, but if you have regular semi-sweet on hand those will work great too. My husband prefers milk chocolate so I sometimes make it with milk chocolate for him too and he loves it!
Peanut Butter Swirl Bars Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Beat peanut butter, butter, and both sugars until light and creamy. Gradually add in the 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla. I use my KitchenAid mixer for this with the beater attachment, but you can also use a hand mixer or it is really easy to just do it by hand as well.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into the peanut butter mixture one cup at a time. Once combined, spread in a 9″x13″ pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
- Cook 5 minutes then remove and use a knife to swirl the chocolate evenly into the bars. The secret to getting the perfect swirl is the chocolate chips evenly sprinkled over the top then, then baking them just long enough to melt but not yet start to really cook. At that point they can be smoothly swirled throughout the bars by running a knife around them. Return to oven and cook 30 more minutes.
What Pan to use for Peanut Butter Swirl Bars
The recipe for these bars calls for a 9″x13″ pan. You can use glass or metal. If you prefer you could also use 2 8″ round cake pans, or 1 12″ cake pan. The cooking time may vary if you change the pan you use so keep an eye on it.
I really hope you enjoy this classic Peanut Butter Swirl Bars recipe as much as we do and you can both enjoy them and make memories with your kiddos. If you do get a chance to try it, I would love it if you let me know! You can leave me a comment below, or if you post a picture on Instagram, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see what you are cooking up! It makes my day to see others enjoying the recipes that I share!
Peanut Butter Swirl Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Beat peanut butter, butter, and both sugars until light and creamy. Gradually add in the 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix with the peanut butter mixture one cup at a time. Once combined, spread in a 9″x13″ pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
- Cook 5 minutes then remove and use a knife to swirl the chocolate evenly into the bars. Return to oven and cook 30 more minutes.
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