This Peanut Butter Blondie recipe is as easy as it gets, calling for only 6 ingredients that you probably already have on hand. They are unbelievably decadent, while being naturally-sweetened and flourless!
What’s the Difference Between a Brownie and a Blondie?
If you’re not familiar with “blondies,” they are basically brownies without cocoa powder added in. They remind me of a deep dish cookie, with more of a buttery, brown sugar flavor. And they’re even more like a deep dish cookie when you add in some chocolate chips!
How to Make Gluten-Free Blondies
These peanut butter blondies are naturally gluten-free because they use NO flour– and you don’t even miss it! They are inspired by the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which lays out guidelines for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (also called SCD, for short).
This special diet may help to heal the intestine (including yeast overgrowth, like candida) through avoiding certain types of starches and sugars, while embracing others. Honey is one of the recommended sweeteners for the SCD, as it’s a monosaccharide, and can be used by the body very quickly without expending much digestive energy.
I’ve also included a vegan option using coconut sugar if you prefer to use that. (You can find my substitution notes directly under the printable recipe in this post.)
How to Make Them
Making these flourless peanut butter blondies couldn’t be easier. Simply stir together the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt, and baking soda, and pour it into a pan to bake.
Just 20 minutes later, it’s like a rich deep-dish cookie!
I like to add some dark chocolate chips to these for extra decadence, but that’s totally optional. (And chocolate is not SCD compliant if you follow that protocol.)
It’s important that you let these blondies cool completely before slicing and serving them. They are very tender when they are warm, and will be difficult to hold without them breaking.
I recommend placing them in the fridge to cool down faster, and I even keep mine stored in the fridge because they last longer that way.
Which Peanut Butter is Best for Blondies?
I use all-natural peanut butter when making this recipe, which has no added oil or sugar. (You can make homemade peanut butter in just 5 minutes, too!)
If you want to use a peanut butter like Jif or Skippy, that will most likely work, too, but I haven’t tested those myself. (But let me know if you try it so I can hear how it goes for you!)
Peanut Butter Blondies (Flourless!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (preferably organic)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt , plus coarse salt if desired as a topping
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8" square pan with parchment paper. (Pro Tip: Grease the pan with a little spray oil first to help keep the parchment paper in place when you add the batter)
- In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt and baking soda and stir well, until a thick and sticky batter has formed. Fold in the dark chocolate chips, if using.
- Use a spatula to pour the batter into the prepared pan, then use it to smooth the top. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top of the batter, if desired. (I highly recommend it!)
- Bake at 350ºF until the top is a light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let the blondies cool completely, as they are very fragile when warm, then cut into squares and serve. I like to store mine in the fridge in an airtight container, for a really firm texture and longer shelf life.
Video
Nutrition
How to Make Vegan Blondies:
To make this recipe vegan, replace the egg with a chia egg, and replace the honey with 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. Check out my Almond Butter Blondies, which are naturally vegan & paleo friendly for this method.
As always, feel free to experiment with other nut butters and sweeteners. If you try something different, please leave a comment below letting me know what worked for you! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite healthy sweetener? Dates have been my other go-to sweetener lately, so be sure to try my Date-Sweetened Brownies and Date-Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies!
These are SO GOOD. I put them in the freezer to store so that I wouldn’t have to eat the whole batch in a few days before they got stale. Only problem is, they taste even better cold! Uh oh, I’m in trouble!
I know, we actually prefer them cold, too! Glad you’re enjoying them! 🙂
A upset finished making then realized I used BAKING POWDER instead of BAKING SODA EEEEEKKKKKKKK I’m in big trouble aren’t I. Should I just throw the out before even waiting for them to bake!!!!
Sooooo good! I just sent the link to the recipe to a bunch of friends…who doesn’t like pb & chocolate?
I messed up first batch by putting baking powder. Tey were not edible. Second batch came out better but not like yours. I made in pampered chef brownie pan and buttered the pan and put in oven for only 15 minutes and they came out overdone. So they aren’t as chewy as urs look. Also used sugar free dark chocolate chips. Any suggestions? Maybe better off using pan u did, should I not butter the pan?
If it’s the brownie pan that gives you only “edge” pieces, then yes, that would definitely affect the results! I would butter the pan, but if you want the more moist results, then a traditional square pan is probably best.
OK I am making this tomorrow. How long will it last? I am a family of a whopping one person lol, so I always worry about things going bad. Also I didn’t realize the type of pan affects the moistness of desserts? What is a brownie pan exactly? Mine is the rectangular size pan with the sides about a couple inches high. Thanks Megan!
These were soooo good! I am happy to feed them to my kids knowing that they aren’t bad for them and they LOVED them.
So delicious!!!! Will be on rotation at our house!
These are yummy. I used almond butter in place of the peanut butter and maple syrup instead of the honey and they were amazing!
Hi Megan! I’d like to try making these with a low carb crust I found, for individual bars, not a pie crust. Do you have any suggestions as to combine the recipes? I assume I make the crust first? Then add this? But perhaps not overcook it since they will need to bake later again together? Can you tell I never really baked before? lol.
Loved, loved, loved it! Don’t eat much sweets because of carb heavy flours in most but this one caught my eye. Will make for family & friends, Thank you!
Oh my gosh, these are fantastic! I thought they would be a lot more sticky, but mine were quite fluffy and tasted as though there should be flour in there! I used 1/4 C honey b/c I used regular peanut butter which already has some sugar in it, and also used carob chips which are sweeter too, and they turned out perfect. Thank you! I am loving all of your recipes, so easy, simple and healthy. (and of course, delicious!)
I made these yesterday and we ate them all! Made them again today but added 1/2 chunky PB & 1/2 Nutella, 1/2 cup ground flax and 1/4 cup cinnamon apple sauce. OMG – So DELISH : ) Hade to bake about 5/8 minutes longer. Only 2 left…
I truly have a tendency to go along with everything that has been
written in “Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
These are sooo amazingly good and addictive. My husband loved them also, he said they are like a soft brownie and very moist.
Made these for a home-school group mom’s night. Served them as a dessert following your gluten free cauliflower pizza recipe. Both were a hit and there wasn’t a crumb left! Many compliments of feeling satisfied without the guilt. Thank you for the wonderful recipes.
So delicious! (I also tried your Vegan Mac n’Cheese and everyone loved it). Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I’m also following you on Facebook to be sure not to miss any of your new ones! 🙂
This sounds so yummy! My 11 year old daughter was just diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. It is all so new to me and I’m just learning. Would you consider this to be a gluten free recipe? You have some amazing recipes on your site!
Yes, nearly all of my recipes are gluten-free, including this one.
My GF and I just gave these an attempt. Lacked some taste and was extremely dry. We followed the directions to a T. Even cooked for minimum of 20 minutes. We are based in Denver (altitude), could this have affected it?
Any idea what could have gone wrong? We are new to the “healthy desserts,” so it was suggested that we may not be used to this style.
I’m not familiar enough with the changes needed to be made for baking at an altitude, but another thing that can affect the results is the type of peanut butter you use! In my experience, natural peanut butters can vary a LOT. Some are more oily than others, and if you get a more dense batch of peanut butter it will produce a dry batch of blondies. I’d recommend using less peanut butter next time, to keep them more moist!
Yes, altitude has a significant effect on baking.
be careful with big quantities of honey, though: it increases cholesterol 🙁 the funny thing is that it’s still not scientifically proven, but there are many cases of healthy easting people with increased cholesterol and it all points to honey…
Has anyone tried to make these using reconstituted PB2 instead of the regular peanut butter?
I don’t keep any chocolate in the house (for obvious reasons), but I definitely want to give these a try after I pick up chocolate chips!
Hey Sarah (and anyone else who is interested in using PB2)! I just tried making these with PB2. it worked out great! The batter was a little runnier than the picture showed. I omitted the chocolate chips, and added some chia seeds (chia seeds did not appear to thicken the batter at all). Made a half batch & cooked in a small 4×4 pan for 30 min at 350. Turned out great! PB2 can absolutely be substituted 🙂
Hi Meghan,
I love your blog and I look forward to your posts every week! You make meals (healthy meals) look soooo tasty and inviting that I wish I could lick the computer screen sometimes!
There is a question that I have been meaning to ask you though: What are your thoughts on grain? When I say grain, I mean whole-grains that doesn’t include wheat or white, refined grains. At first, I read that grains are terrible for you for endless amount of reasons. Then, I am reading that meat and dairy are terrible for you for another endless number of reasons. I know that there can be no “perfect” diet, but I notice that your blogs don’t include a lot of grain and meat recipes. So I would like to know your comments, if you don’t mind.
By the way, these blondies look so amazing that I want to eat them right now lol.
Thank you!
I made these last night. They’re really good! I had to hide them from my husband.
My second batch of these are in the oven. Made the first batch exactly as written and they were delicious and SO easy! I didn’t quite have a cup of PB this time so I added half a tablespoon of coconut flour. I used 1/4 c maple syrup and some applesauce as I don’t have any honey on hand. The batter tasted amazing and they are puffing up nicely in the oven. Thank you for the easiest, healthiest, most delicious baked-good recipe I have come across!
Oh. My. God. To DIE for!! So yummie!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I just made these and wish I could give you a hug!
I ate them right out of the oven because I couldn’t wait and they were perfect.
I have recently been told to cut out refined sugars and gluten due to some autoimmunity issues and these will be my go-to sweet treat.
Do you know the nutritional facts?
Please see my FAQ regarding nutrition info: https://detoxinista.com/frequently-asked-questions/
I love these. I am so glad I found this recipe. I make them all the time. And now that I know how to make a flax “egg” I can finally make use of my ground flax seed somewhere else besides in smoothies. I made them this last time with walnuts and macadamia nuts. And I always add 1/4 extra dark chocolate chips. Thanks for this soooo much. Yummy!!
wow – looks so good!
I have made these 3 times already. They are delicious!
I am looking for a chewy pb blondie, when fully cooled. Whenever I’ve experimented with nut butters and eggs, they end up cakey. Your pic looks chewy, but I can’t tell from the comments if these really end up chewy after cooled (you keep mentioning gooey in the middle, does that end up as chewy when cooled?). (I’m taking them to a pot luck, so they will have been cooled for hours.) Thanks for any help!
I just made these for my family and they are so good. I can’t stop eating them.
I have these in the oven now…was a bit short on almond butter, so filled the last 1/4 c with peanut butter, and used SF choc chips. These are SO not safe already! 🙂 Yer my new hero, thanks for all your hard work! 😀
Hi,
looks good, definitely going to try them soon but I would like to know if u measure nut butters in liquid or dry measuring cups.
Thanks
I made it yesterday with agave instead of honey, came out perfect. Even my 9 yr old enjoyed it. More than Half of the tray was gone while it was still hot, the rest finished today.
Thanks for a delicious recipe!
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a long time! I just completed the Clean Program for the 2nd time and it has inspired me to try to stick with low glycemic sugar alternatives. Have you ever tried coconut nectar in this recipe instead?
I haven’t tried it myself. Please let us know if it works for you!
Thank you for the recipe! My whole family LOVED these!
These look amazing and I’d like to make them for a family reunion, but I’m wondering if I could substitute something for the honey. We are following the Wheat Belly Diet, and mostly use stevia or xylitol for sweeteners. Since xylitol is a powder (like sugar) and stevia only requires a few drops, how would I adjust for the decrease in liquid?
Your guess is as good as mine! I always learn through trial & error, so please share your results if you try it!
I just made these in a vegan form! OMG… Omitted the honey and egg. Used my homemade honey roasted peanut butter, 1/2oz flaxseed mill, 1/2oz chia seeds, 1/4 c almond milk, and one large very ripe banana. Wowza!! And my house smells awesome!!! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Megan,
I just got my Vitamix a week ago and found your website and made these with my homemade peanut butter and they are delicious. At first, I thought that I did something wrong because they were very crumbly, but I let them completely cool and they are perfect and delicious. I can’t wait to make your cream cheese bars.
Holy crap… I just made these and they’re amazing!!!!!!!!!! I’ve had such terrible luck making grain free baked goods, but finally success. These were so easy too, these will be a continued favorite and now I’m inspired to try some of your other baked treats. Thanks for your inspiration!
My kids LOVED these…SO good! Thank you! I wanted to ask what brand peanut butter and what brand honey you used… My batter was super thick. I think they would be even better if my batter looked like your batter in the picture! I adore your website and you inspire me to cook better!!!
I used Trader Joe’s organic peanut butter and their clover honey when I first made this recipe, but they’ve since discontinued making that particular type of peanut butter! It was nice and runny, so you might want to try reducing the peanut butter by a few tablespoons next time if you want a thinner batter. Now that my natural peanut butter is thicker, that’s what I do!
I just made these brownies using sugar free PB, agave, the egg, carob chips, and my baking powder substitute of cream of tartar and baking soda. I am gluten, sugar, and corn free… so you just gave me a great treat that I can eat!! Its in the oven, everyone cross your fingers. I will report back to you!
Yummy, but kind of dry. Maybe I baked too long. 20 minutes. I will have to tweak this a little. But I am happy to have found a treat I can eat!
Try using 3/4 cup peanut butter next time– some brands are oilier than others, so reducing that will make them more moist!
I am going to make these for my friends when they come over on Saturday.
it’s in the oven. can’t wait
I’m wondering like Joshua if altitude affects this recipe. It certainly does other baked goods! I’m higher than Denver. Followed to a T as well except using Egg replacer and having read others success, assumed it must be altitude or the peanut butter. They don’t really cut into squares but crumble, and in your mouth almost seem under baked . Strange.
Will experiment another time. The taste is great but weird consistency.
Have you tried this recipe with maple syrup in the place of honey?
How do you think it would turn out?
Thanks 🙂
Just tried these last night and cannot stop eating them! They are so good! Like many others, my batter was much thicker than yours (as pictured), and I may be tempted to add one more egg or a touch more honey next time…but they are DELICIOUS!
What would you recommend instead of egg?
These Flourless Blondies were DELICIOUS!!! Satisfied with your standard recipe…no substitutes!!!