These bars are like the lovechild of a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie!
Gooey, fudgy, rich, decadent, peanut buttery, chocolatey, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip brownie bars – I could go on with adjectives, but you really need to try them to understand!
This recipe was created to say thank you.
I found out last week that my book made the list of Amazon’s Top 20 Best Cookbooks Of 2015. Seeing my name included on that list when I opened the email was such a shock… I think I probably screamed… and maybe scared the neighbors… I can’t stop smiling… and still can’t believe it!!!
Please forgive me for mentioning the book again… there is no way I can keep this exciting news to myself! Making Amazon’s Top 20 Cookbooks of the year is by far one of the MOST exciting things to happen in all the time I’ve been blogging. And I can’t ever thank you enough.
Before the book came out, my publisher had warned me that because not everyone eats dessert, cookbooks with only desserts rarely sell as well as non-dessert books and that I should keep this in mind and not get my hopes up too far. Neither of us ever expected this amount of incredible success; we have been stunned at how many people have been buying the book.
It’s completely crazy!!!!
Words are failing me once again, and therefore I wish to express my thanks to you all in my usual favored way: through—what else?—dessert!
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog.
Thank you to everyone who has ever made one of the recipes or mentioned the site to a friend.
Thank you to everyone who has bought the book.
But mostly, thank you to everyone simply just for reading. I know full well it’s because of YOU that I’m able to do what I love every day, and I never want to take that for granted. I wish I could send a batch of chocolate chip brownie bars to each of you as a thank-you for making this all possible. Thank you again and again and again. Thank you, a million times over. ♥
Okay, brownie time!
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Adapted from Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (almond flour, white, spelt, sorghum, oat, and Bob’s gf all work here)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup sugar or xylitol
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (mini are best, but regular will also work)
- optional chocolate chips for the top
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8×8 pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first 3 ingredients until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir. Only if it’s too dry after stirring to resemble a thick brownie batter, very slowly add a little milk of choice (or water) until the desired texture is reached. Smooth evenly into the prepared pan, then press in some extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. It will look a little undercooked, so do not touch the pan for at least 15 minutes. After this time, it will have firmed up and you can cut without crumbling. After a day, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for freshness.
Links Of The Day:
Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Cups, from the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
I made these last night using almond butter and white chocolate chips. These are fabulous, not as sweet as I had imagined when I read the recipe. I will make these again with semi-sweet mini chips and dark chocolate chips stuck on top.
Congratulations Katie! What an amazing achievement. You are such an inspirations to anyone looking to change their eating habits for the better, without sacrificing the good stuff in life 🙂
Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment! All your hard work is paying off.
LOVED THESE! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I also have purchased two copies of your book.
I’ve been on a brownie kick lately. I even emailed you on July 4th asking for a salted caramel brownie recipe so when I saw this, I figured it would suffice.
I just made them. The most notable thing is that they are very fudgey/gooey. I love it. I followed the recipe really closely. I used almond butter instead of peanuts butter and did not include chocolate chips on top. I used all purpose flour and regular granulated sugar.
I was surprised that I could not taste the almond butter at all given how much it calls for.
I wanted to cut the recipe by 4 but 1/12 cup of applesauce was more than I wanted to deal with so I cut it in half. I didn’t think the amount of batter I had was sufficient for my smallest pan so I baked it in muffin tins.
My batter was super dry and I had never made brownies (I realized as I made them) so I didn’t know what exactly brownie batter looked like and I didn’t think to google it so I started adding milk until I felt it was brownie-esque. The batter filled 5 muffin tins. I was going to cut the time in half but after 10 mins they were wayyyy too undercooked so I left it for the full 20. They were still a little undercooked but then i “waited” 15 minutes for 4 of them to set while I ate the fifth one.
They did not hold as muffins. After 15 mins I ended up scooping it out and putting it in a container. Now I have this brownie fudge in my fridge 🙂 I would totally make again but in a pan.
Woooow!!! Congratulations, Katie!!! That’s so amazing, and you totes deserve it! Your cookbook is awesome! So happy for you, and I these brownies look TO.DIE.FOR.
YUMMY! YUMMY! My husband ate half the pan before the day was over. Delicious!
I’ve been eyeing (and drooling) over this recipe for a week now. Have you tried, or what is your opinion on how well they would freeze? I live alone and just me and a pan of brownies…. not a good combination! 😉
I made these last night and they were SUPERB! It was all that you said it was. Strangely, I used Millet Flour instead of any other you mentioned (my furry baby, dog, was distracting me as she wanted to play) but it still turned out DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! So bad that I had one for B’fast. :-)) I only realized it this morning when I saw the millet flour sitting on the kitchen counter but oh well………
Just made the brownies… Very good, light, good flavor, will make again. Had to add milk at the end as suggested and would add more chocolate chips next time. But other than that it was great!!! Tastes healthier than the too sweet box of chemicals I am used to.
Just made these and they were AMAZING! I used 1/2 reconstituted PB2 and 1/2 crunchy peanut butter and they were fantastic. So rich and chocolately!
Katie, congratulations on the cookbook. It’s well deserved!!
Has anyone made these with honey? Any difference than sugar in the finished product?
Also has anyone made these with both applesauce and bananas and can weigh in on how the finished product compares? (Debating whether to go out and buy applesauce when I have bananas 🙂
I have made these with pureed banana, and with applesauce. Both are delicious! The banana version has a banana taste, so if that doesn’t bother you, go ahead! I do believe I enjoyed the banana ones better. They’re so gooey and fudgey, and yummy… 🙂
Do you ever bake with protein powders? Do you think a protein powder would ruin the recipe/taste and how much would you recommend adding to the recipe?
I made these yesterday and they are so good. But I kept thinking that they didn’t look a thing like yours. Well, I wrote this recipe down a week ago and when I got a spare moment (I have 5 kids) I thought I would make them, so I did. So, anyway, I forgot to write down cocoa powder so they don’t have any cocoa powder but they are still really good. They just taste like your Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars (that’s another favorite of mine). Oh and I also did 1/2 xylitol and 1/2 coconut sugar…definitely very sweet, definitely could cut back on the sugar. I’ll try them again sometime with the cocoa. Can’t wait! THanks for your ideas!
I just made these brownies. They are delicious! I have tried a bunch of vegan brownie recipes and haven’t been satisfied. But these are so gooey and rich, I feel like I’m cheating! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Hi Katie, I have kids who are allergic to nuts (all kinds). Could I omit the peanut butter altogether or is there an easy substitution (butter maybe)? Thanks! Irene
Can you use Sunbutter? That works well in these.