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!
Hi-I just came across these on Facebook and look amazing! Do you think that i could mix the batter tonight and heat up tomorrow? I love the idea of having them straight from the oven – I’m having dinner at a friend’s… so i either make and bring tonight or mix tonight and heat tomorrow.. thoughts?
I made these using unsweetened dark chocolate chips. The taste was alright but nothing to get too excited over. The texture was my main issue. They had a hard to thick, hard to swallow texture even though I thinned the peanut butter with a little coconut oil and extra honey. I froze them and they were much more manageable but taste was ho-hum.
These are absolutely amazing. As I am allergic to chocolate, I substituted unsweetened carob chips. I used fresh ground peanut butter as well.
Which food category does organic peanut butter fall? Nuts and seeds?
Peanuts are technically a legume, which are naturally more difficult to digest. I tend to not recommend eating them if you’re trying to heal a health issue, but they can be enjoyed as a treat every now and then. (Which is why I still include organic peanut butter in several of my dessert recipes– my husband can’t get enough of it!)
Peanuts are okay on fodmap! Yay!
Question, I want to make this, but am planning on using Stevie instead of honey. How can I still make it moist? Should I add water or coconut oil?
They look delicious but after reading the majority of the comments, I just don’t know. I’m not a fan of using ingredients only to have them not turn in to something yummy.
I did the nutritional count on them and this is what I came up with:
For 16 bars, this is per bar:
138 calories
fat: 9.4g
sodium: 45 mg
carbs: 11.5 g
fiber: 1 g
sugar: 9.3g
Protein: 4.7g
Not sure if it’s worth it…I work with a trainer and she wants me to log every morsel of food that goes in my mouth. General consensus???
Megan,
Can I suggest you include a pic of what the batter looks like before you put it in the oven? It would help the new bakers like myself. When I saw this batter I was really worried but it baked up perfectly and these are so good….hopefully they last me the week!
I made these with two mashed, ripe bananas instead of the eggs and honey, and they were great! They turned out super dense and fudgy, which is the texture I prefer. They are not cake-like at all this way. I made them in a slightly smaller pan, since they don’t puff up at all without an egg. They are perfect once cooled completely, and great directly out of the fridge. Thanks for the yummy, easy recipe!
I’m confused about the calories and nutritional information. How many calories per serving?
I made this recipe with almond butter. The brownies came out a bit on the dry side and more like a cake. The brownie tasted okay but nothing to write home about. I’ll try the recipe again using a different nut butter.
Did your almond butter have any other ingredients besides almonds? Sometimes if they have anything extra that can make the blondies dry. Otherwise, you might try shortening the baking time by a couple minutes. Ovens vary!
Organic almond butter with nothing but almonds. I agree, a shorter cooking time might solve the issue. I’m game to try it again. Megan, I very much appreciate your recipes. 🙂
These were amazing!!! Great with vanilla ice cream.
With PB, and slightly less time than called for- just when the top was golden 🙂
Peanut butter and chocolate is always a perfect combination!!
As a few others have commented mine also turned out a bit dry and that’s with additional ingredients added. I followed the recipe but used two eggs and some extra added avocado oil for additional moisture. I also substituted allulose instead for honey and maybe that took away from the moisture since the allulose is in sugar form. Also used organic trader joe’s peanut butter with lots of natural oil. I love all your recipes and will work on tweaking this one until it turns out as beautiful as the ones in your pic 🙂 Maybe applesauce might do the trick?
These are the BEST! So easy, too!
When my brother was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis years ago, Breaking The Vicious Cycle was recommended to us. His biggest struggle was lack of treats. I discovered your blog and this recipe. It’s was the first treat I made for him, and I still make it today. Hands down, one of our favorite recipes. And, I make it for others, too, without worry that’s it’s a “healthy” or “different” brownie. It’s just good!
Hi there! quick question: how can I make peanut butter from scratch in order to use same in this prerty recipe?
Here’s my tutorial for homemade peanut butter: https://detoxinista.com/how-to-make-peanut-butter/
Made these with a combination of almond and cashew butter. They are so gooey and delicious! I love the added coarse salt on top!! Will definitely keep these in the freezer as a treat when the mood strikes. Thanks!!
We LOVE these!!
Can you replace honey with say stevia or other sweetener?))
I think that might make them drier in texture (the honey helps with moisture) but it could possibly work! I’ve made these with 1/2 cup of coconut sugar with good success, but I can’t use stevia so I couldn’t test it that way. Let me know if you try it!
Can these be made with Jif peanut butter?
Yes, I think that would still work! Let me know if you try it.
GIRL! Bomb a$$ recipe!
Make it for hubby CONSTANTLY. I did change by using Lankanto brand maple syrup in place of honey, and stevia choc chips as he can’t do sugar sugar. Oh, how we love these!!❤️
Ohhh! Used almond butter instead of PB also 😉
I made these last night..but I am not sure if it was the peanut butter, which im thinking it was. These came out dry..so I am thinking it had to be the PB. it was oily. or another reason I left them in the oven to long..but I am going to give it another shot. This time use a different PB.
Anna
Loved your recipe. I omit the honey to make them less sweet but the consistency is extremely crumbly. Should I add another egg? Or almond flour or something along those lines? THanks!
These really are the best blondies! Next time I am making a double batch because they went so fast!
My batter was super thick, probably cause I used crunchy peanut butter? It’s currently in the oven, so we’ll see how it goes. I also used mostly fiber syrup.
well I forgot to add an egg, I also only had creamed honey & maple syrup but it turned out great! Didn’t even need the egg
So good and so easy! My kids love them and think they are a brownie.
I have developed an allergy to chocolate (along with my gluten, corn and cow dairy), and so it’s always difficult to find something that satisfies my sweet tooth. I had never had a blondie before, because, well… why eat a blondie when there are brownies? But now that brownies are off the table — and my efforts to substitute carob have left me less than pleased — I decided to give it a go. Instead of dark chocolate chips I used some salted caramel ones I picked up, but I think next time I’ll go with white chocolate instead. Yes, there will definitely be a next time, because the combination of peanut butter and honey definitely scratched that itch. I still miss brownies, but these are a nice addition to my sweet treats rotation.
My 1st attempt at this recipe is in the oven now. I can’t wait to try them! I have a question… Can these be prepared in advance & frozen? I made no substitutions to your recipe.
I found the blondies burned on the bottom at 350 for 20 minutes….I think I’ll try 325 next time; however they were delicious (and we ate them with the overly brown bottom and all lol)
These are always what I make whenever I need cookies or something (aka always)
I use maple syrup since I don’t like honey and it works wonderfully!
Tried this with stevia since my friend has a condition in which she can’t have ANY sugars, monosaccharides or no. I had to had about a tablespoon of chickpea flour and an extra egg, as well as 1/3 coconut oil to make the consistency a bit softer. They’re still in the oven at the moment, but the way they’re rising looks great. Thank you for the recipe!
Made these didn’t have enough to spread in the baking pan so made another batch to add to the mixture. I didn’t have enough of the organic peanut butter so I used regular to fill the rest up but it turned out great.
Awesome recipe. JIF worked great
I mean…how is this even possible with no flour?! Absolutely amazing. Used a combo of PB and Sunbutter as that’s all we had in the pandemic pantry. These were delish! Thank you 🙂
WE , my 8 year old grand daughter used your recipe for blonde PB cookies and I must say they were very good.
I’m glad you both enjoyed them! Thanks for coming back to let me know– I really appreciate it!
Can you add protein powder to recipe?
Used cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips, kakato fiber sweetner in place of honey, and coconut oil to help thin out the batter to a choc chip cough dough consistency. Added course sea salt and cocoa nibs for topping. Did a half and half all natural creamy pb and half crunchy. Turned out awesome!
I have cancer, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, digestion issues. This site give me wonderful ideas to still be able to enjoy the foods I like, just made into much healthier versions to cut out all the inflammation!
I learned how unhealthy and processed our diets are in america.. Its making millions so sick. My healing journey began with cleaning up my diet. Thank you♡ ever so greatful♡
Could you use the same amount of maple syrup instead of honey for this recipe?
They will probably turn out a little more wet that way, and not quite as sweet as using honey, but I think they should hold together still!
giving 5 stars cause i love the idea, but i made these and EXTREMELY dry. is that normal orrr?
These are the best EVER. Ive tried this recipe with all-natural PB and store brand and both work, but the best taste and texture definitely comes from using natural/organic. I love making them with Trader Joe’s organic crunchy PB!! (Call me crazy but the extra crunch is so good!)
SO GOOD!! Definitely live up to their name as the best blondies:))
So easy and so delicious!!!
pls provide metric measurements
I made these and felt they were okay. I feel like they tasted a bit bland. (I will add sugar next time to test it out) Aesthetically they looked Great! Thanks for sharing..
Like eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup! I add a scoop of peanut butter plant based protein to these bars and the texture is perfect! These are one of the best things I’ve ever baked- and I bake a LOT!
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Very good! Used 1/4 c maple syrup instead of honey.
Hi! I tried your recipe using super chunk from Skippy. It turned out awesome. I used milk chocolate chips because that’s what I had and a bit of vanilla extract. I wanted to let you know how it turned out using Skippy. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for letting me know! I’m glad they turned out well!
Loved this recipe! I was not sure if the taste is good without flour but it was actually super tasty!! now I’m officially your fan 😉