Peanut Butter Banana Brownies: Move over regular brownies, these peanut butter banana brownies are the ones you’ve been waiting for! It only takes 15 minutes to get these in the oven, and pantry staples you probably have on hand right now!
Brownie recipes can be so fun and these red velvet brownies and strawberry brownies are even made with cake mixes to make them easier!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I’m a self-professed peanut butter lover as well as a chocolate lover, so these brownies were an easy yes for me! The addition of the banana is just a bonus!
If you are looking for a quick, easy brownie recipe that uses ingredients you will likely always have on hand, these cocoa powder brownies are the ones for you! (As well as these cornflake brownies.)
They are full of flavor, moist and soft, fudgy and chewy. These would be perfect for an after school snack, for dipping in a chocolate fondue, or as a dessert with a scoop of ice cream beside them.
Jump to:
Ingredients
Sometimes we run out of chocolate chips in my house (probably because my kids think they are the best snack food), so fudgy brownies that can be made with just cocoa powder are a must for me! This easy brownie recipe uses ingredients that you probably have right now but could easily get at a grocery store if you don’t!
- Butter: This makes the brownie fudgy and moist!
- Baking Powder: This is the leavening agent that helps your brownie rise a bit.
- Ripe Bananas: Adding ripe bananas will give it a light banana flavor and also make your brownie moist!
- White All Purpose Flour: Of course we need some flour to help hold this all together. We used white all purpose flour for this recipe, but you could use whole wheat flour if you prefer (or see our substitutions for gluten-free alternatives).
- Sugar: Just the right amount of sugar helps make this brownie sweet but not too sweet.
- Eggs: Eggs are important for so many reasons! Most brownies don’t have a ton of flour in them, so eggs act as a binding agent to hold the brownie together. They also help give your brownie that fudgy texture.
- Cocoa Powder: Since we aren’t using any chocolate in this brownie recipe, the cocoa powder is what gives it its chocolatey flavor!
- Peanut Butter: Add in some creamy peanut butter for a delicious peanut butter flavor.
You can find a complete list of ingredients and directions in the recipe card below.
Instructions
These brownies are super quick and easy to make – all you need is one bowl and 15 minutes of your time, and you’ll have delicious brownies in the oven making your house smell amazing.
- Gather your ingredients, heat oven to 350 degrees, and coat a 9×13 inch baking pan in nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until creamy and well combined.
- Mash bananas. Whisk the eggs and mashed bananas into the creamed butter mixture until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the ½ cup cocoa powder (use a good quality cocoa powder for the best results), flour, and baking powder. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no clumps of flour remain.
- Fold in the ½ cup peanut butter with a rubber spatula until it is evenly distributed throughout the brownie batter. I found that creamy peanut butter worked better than crunchy peanut butter; however, you can always sprinkle chopped peanuts over the batter before baking if you want a crunchy experience!
- You can add a few dollops of peanut butter to the top of the batter and use a butter knife to swirl it in for a pretty peanut butter swirl on top! Pour the brownie mixture into the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick can be cleanly removed from the center of the pan.
- Let cool on a cooling rack, then slice into squares and enjoy! These brownies can either be served immediately or served cold, they’re great either way!
Serving Suggestion: Serve these peanut butter chocolate banana brownies cold alongside a cup of coffee, warm with a scoop of ice cream or with a glass of cold milk!
Substitutions
- Peanut Butter – creamy works best, but you could use natural peanut butter, other natural nut butters or even a crunchy peanut butter if you prefer.
- Gluten-Free – you can easily make these brownies gluten-free by replacing the 1 cup of white flour for a 1:1 ration gluten-free flour blend! You could also try using 1 cup almond flour instead of white flour (we haven’t tested this substitution – let us know if you try it)!
- Dairy-Free – replace the butter in this recipe with a dairy-free alternative (or even coconut oil) so that even those on a dairy-free diet can enjoy them!
- Eggs – if you can’t have eggs, you can try using flax eggs instead. You might notice a slight flax flavor in the brownies, but they will work as a binding agent just as well as an egg for this recipe.
- Vegan – if you use the dairy-free substitution and the egg substitution above, you can turn these into vegan peanut butter banana brownies!
- Sugar – you can use brown sugar instead of white sugar for this recipe. It will change the texture of the finished product, but it will work in a pinch!
Variations
The best part of a brownie recipe is that it’s a great base to get creative with! Here are a few fun ideas for you to try…
- Holiday Festive – mix in some sprinkles and sprinkle some on top of the batter before baking to make your brownies festive! Try red and pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day, green and tiny 4 leaf clover sprinkles for St. Patrick’s Day, red and green for Christmas, little pumpkin sprinkles for Halloween. Get creative!
- S’mores Brownies – sprinkle some mini marshmallows and a little bit of chopped graham crackers on top of the banana brownie batter before baking to make these into s’mores themed peanut butter banana brownies!
- Extra Chocolate – if you have a major sweet tooth, stir some chocolate chunks (or we even used a chocolate pudding mix in brownies, before) into the brownie batter before baking! Your brownies will be gooey and delicious!
Storage
You can store your banana peanut butter brownies on the counter or in the fridge, as long as it’s in an airtight container. On the counter they should last 3-5 days, in the fridge they should last at least a week.
You can also store these in an airtight, freezer safe container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Perfect for when you want a quick snack (and if you haven’t tried eating a frozen brownie before, you really should).
Expert Tips and FAQs
It is important to use ripe bananas to get the best banana flavor. An unripe banana really won’t taste the same. If you only have fresh bananas and need to ripen some quickly, check out this blog post on how to ripen a banana faster!
Why yes, yes you can! This brownie recipe is the perfect way to use up all those overripe bananas you have kicking around!
Related Recipes
More brownie recipes: If you’re in the mood for another twist on the classic brownies recipe, go check out our lemon cake mix brownies or our strawberry brownies recipe! We have so many great recipes on the blog for brownies!
More chocolate recipes: In the mood for something super chocolatey? You have to try this hot fudge cake! This is one of our favorite recipes when it comes to chocolate cake.
Need to use up some overripe bananas?: I have the best banana bread recipe (with a secret ingredient) as well as an amazing banana bread pudding recipe you should try! Or, this banana pudding poke cake has a lot of banana flavor.
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Peanut Butter Banana Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened at room temperature
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup white all-purpose flour (whole wheat also works)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9×13 inch baking pan in nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until creamy and well combined.
- Mash bananas. Whisk the eggs and mashed bananas into the creamed butter mixture until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, and baking powder. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no clumps of flour remain.
- Fold in the peanut butter with a rubber spatula until it is evenly distributed throughout the brownie batter.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake the brownies for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick can be cleanly removed from the center of the pan.
- Let cool, then slice into squares and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Jennifer says
These brownies were way TOO good! Ugh, they turned out amazing & we’re gone so fast! Can’t wait to make again!
Allyssa says
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Teresa F says
These are even better than I thought! My kids devoured them so now I know, next time I need to make a double batch!