Fudgy Flourless Peanut Butter Cup Brownies {gluten-free}

If fudgy, rich, ooey-gooey, chocolate-loaded brownies with perfectly crinkly tops aren't your thing, this recipe isn't for you.

I still love you for reading and might point you in the direction of these blondies instead, but full disclaimer, today's brownies are  INTENSE in the best way possible. In fact, let's just take a moment to assess what we have goin' on here:

- Butter & chocolate melted together for a super luxurious brownie base

- Just enough cocoa powder to make sure these are actually brownies and not just hunks of fudge

- Anddd peanut butter cups chopped up and thrown into the mix, because how could that not make this whole situation even better?

This is a mid-week pick-me-up kinda brownie; a late-night, crazy-chocolate-craving kinda brownie; and - let's be real - probably a diet-breaking kinda brownie, but YOLO. It's also gluten-free (and could probably be turned dairy-free by subbing the butter with coconut oil), so if that's your jam, I got ya covered.

And - P.S. - if fudgy, flourless, and super chocolatey sounds good but cookies sound a little better than brownies, I got ya there too. ;) Now here's how to flood your veins with chocolate ASAP:

Fudgy Flourless Peanut Butter Cup Brownies {gluten-free}

The ULTIMATE rich, fudgy, oooy-gooey, and chocolatey brownies, with perfectly-crinkled tops and chunks of peanut butter cups in every bite.

• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 9 large or 16 small brownies 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) butter*, cubed
• 6 ounces chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 4 ⅝ ounces (⅔ cup) granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ⅞ ounce (¼ cup) cocoa powder, sifted
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 ⅛ ounces (1 cup) chopped peanut butter cups (or 12 minis, cut into quarters)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line an 8" square pan with foil. Grease foil with nonstick spray.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter and chocolate and heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until smoothly melted and combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment, or using a bowl and handheld electric mixer, combine eggs and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until mixture is light in color and ribbons down from the beater when lifted. Wipe down bowl and beater as needed. Beat in vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in on low speed just until partially combined. Finish folding together by hand until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Fold in peanut butter cups just until dispersed.
6. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth out in an even layer. Tap pan firmly on counter a few times to help settle and remove any air bubbles.
7. Bake brownies in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs, and edges are slightly pulling away from sides of pan.
8. Cool in pan on a wire rack until completely cool, and then use foil to lift from pan and slice. For even cleaner slicing, transfer to fridge for 30-60 minutes before slicing.
9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

*You could probably substitute coconut oil to make these dairy-free, but I haven't tested it myself.

Recipe adapted from Running with Spoons

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