Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Blondies

Back when I was young (and yes, it was quite a long time ago), I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near natural peanut butter. I was firmly a creamy, processed peanut butter that tasted more like sugar than peanuts gal. How times have changed.

These days, natural peanut butter is what I keep in the pantry and spoon into my Well Salted Breakfast Smoothie most mornings. For these gluten free peanut butter and milk chocolate blondies though, I make an exception. This is one recipe where the smoother, sweeter style of peanut butter works best.
My relationship with peanut butter has changed in other ways too. As a teenager, I could happily eat it by the spoonful. If I was feeling particularly rebellious, I might even throw a few chocolate chips on top and convince myself it counted as dessert. Despite my lifelong commitment to all things sweet, my tastes have shifted over the years and these days I generally lean more towards salty with just enough sweetness to keep things interesting.

Which brings me to these blondies.

If you’re looking for my usual style of baking, where sweetness takes a back seat to butter, salt and chocolate, these may not be for you. They are unapologetically sweet — much to my daughter’s delight. That said, if the combination of peanut butter and chocolate makes your heart skip a beat, you’ll likely find them hard to resist.

My daughter and a gluten free friend helped demolish most of the batch and declared each other their “spirit animal” before arguing over the last piece. High praise from two people who take their sweet treats very seriously.
Another departure from my usual approach is the use of milk chocolate rather than dark. Use a good-quality milk chocolate with a decent cocoa content and actual chocolate flavour — not compound chocolate. The final sprinkle of flaky sea salt keeps everything from tipping too far into sugar overload and reminds you that this is still a Well Salted Kitchen recipe after all.

Worth Making?

• Yes — if you love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate and especially if you are gluten free
• Yes — if you’re looking for a gluten-free peanut butter blondie
• Yes — if you want a brownie like bake that is less heavy on the chocolate
• Skip it — if you firmly prefer dark chocolate and find milk chocolate too sweet
• Skip it — if you’re expecting a traditional blondie with strong caramel and brown butter flavours – this is very peanut butter
• Skip it — if peanut butter is something you merely tolerate rather than actively seek out

Make it your own way

• Swap the milk chocolate for dark chocolate if you prefer a little more bitterness
• Stir through chopped roasted peanuts for extra crunch and texture
• Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavour without tasting like coffee
• Swirl extra peanut butter through the batter before baking for pockets of molten peanut butter
• Add a handful of raspberries and or swirl through jam for a peanut butter and jam inspired version
• Replace the milk chocolate with white chocolate if you enjoy a sweeter, peanut-butter-cookie style blondie
• Drizzle milk chocolate over the top for an extra chocolate hit
• Add a pinch of cinnamon for a subtle warmth that works surprisingly well with both peanut butter and chocolate