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You are here: Home / Desserts / Bars & Brownies / Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

May 29, 2018 By Sam 10 Comments

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Chocolate covered peanut butter bar

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are similar to Millionaire’s shortbread, only with a rich fudgy peanut butter filling instead of caramel! Made with a buttery shortbread-style crust and crowned with a rich dark chocolate ganache (and a sprinkle of sea salt), these are totally addictive treats.

Peanut Butte rShortbread Bars topped with fudgy chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of sea salt

We are back at it with the peanut butter again today!

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are a hybrid of my popular Buckeye Brownies and my Millionaire’s Shortbread (have you tried those yet? soooo good!). These peanut butter chocolate treats are easy to make and the combination of the snappy shortbread crust, the peanut buttery fudge filling and the decadent dark chocolate ganache, all topped off with a sprinkle of sea salt is rich, decadent, and absolutely addictive.

I actually like to cut my bars into bite-sized pieces because of the decadence of the combination. They’re rich, but not overly sweet (the sea salt on top helps with that), a very satisfying after dinner treat.

Peanut Butter Fudge Topping for Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

Spreading Chocolate Ganache over Peanut butter Shortbread Bars

The shortbread crust is not a “true” shortbread, let’s just get that out of the way right now. “Real” shortbreads are generally made with just butter, flour, and sugar, but I found that to be a bit too crumbly for the hefty peanut butter and chocolate toppings on these peanut butter shortbread bars, and so I made a few changes.

We’ll add some brown sugar and an egg yolk (for moisture and flavor) and a splash of vanilla extract to our dough. Take care when mixing everything together that you don’t over-mix the dough as you want it to still be a bit dry and crumbly. This will make it much easier to spread into the bottom of your 9×13 pan.

Make sure to let your shortbread cool completely before adding your peanut butter fudge topping, or it will just melt all over the bars — you want it to be firm and sliceable.

Peanut Butter Shortbread Slice

The chocolate ganache adds a nice, pretty top layer to these peanut butter shortbread bars (and I personally believe that peanut butter should always be accompanied by chocolate, so of course I had to include it). I generally use semisweet or dark chocolate for my bars, but milk chocolate chips would work well here, too.

Enjoy!

Chocolate covered peanut butter bar

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are similar to Millionaire's shortbread, only with a rich fudgy peanut butter filling instead of caramel! Made with a buttery shortbread-style crust and crowned with a rich dark chocolate ganache (and a sprinkle of sea salt), these are totally addictive treats.
4.75 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: peanut butter, shortbread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 24 squares
Calories: 445kcal
Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened 226g
  • 1/3 cup sugar 70g
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar tightly packed 70g
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 260g

Peanut Butter Fudge

  • 2 cups creamy peanut butter 475g
  • 1/2 cup butter cut into about 8 pieces 113g
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar 260g
  • 1 Tablespoon milk 15ml

Chocolate Ganache

  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 340g
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 120ml
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

Shortbread Layer

  • Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper.
  • Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until well creamed, about 30 seconds.
  • Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir well, pausing to scrape down the sides and mixing until ingredients are well-combined.
  • Add flour gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time), pausing to scrape down sides of bowl. Halfway through the addition of the flour, sprinkle in the salt with the beater still running.
  • Don't over-beat the dough, you want it to be slightly crumbly to make it easier to press into the pan.
  • Drop dough over prepared pan and gently, evenly, press dough into the bottom of the pan. To make it easier, I usually lay a piece of wax paper over the dough and use the palm of my hand to smooth the surface (and then discard wax paper).
  • Bake on 350F (177C) for 20-25 minutes -- edges should be lightly golden brown.
  • Allow to cool completely before adding peanut butter fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge

  • Combine peanut butter and butter in large heat proof bowl and microwave at 15-second increments (stirring between each) until butter is completely melted.
  • Stir in vanilla extract.
  • Gradually stir in powdered sugar.
  • Add milk and stir well. Mixture should be fudgy enough that you can mold pieces into a ball, but not too stiff that you won't be able to spread it over the brownies (feel free to add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if mixture is too stiff, or more powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time if mixture is too soft).
  • Drop peanut butter mixture by heaping spoonfuls over the cooled brownies and use a knife to gently spread until the shortbread layer is evenly covered with a thick layer of fudge.

Chocolate Topping

  • Combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  • Stir frequently until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
  • Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Allow chocolate to cool for about 15 minutes, and then evenly spread over prepared caramel layer. Wait several minutes and then sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Allow chocolate to harden (I recommend placing in refrigerator for about 30 minutes -- my family prefers these treats refrigerated anyway) before cutting and serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1square | Calories: 445kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 187mg | Potassium: 247mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

Peanut Butte rShortbread Bars topped with fudgy chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of sea salt

Filed Under: Bars & Brownies, Desserts Tagged With: peanut butter

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Comments

  1. Kiki says

    July 21, 2020 at 2:39 am

    5 stars
    Love the recipe! one of my new favorite but i did have one issue. i’m having some trouble with having the peanut butter layer stick to the shortbread, when i cut it the pb tends to fall off and i just put it back on. any recommendations/tips for this?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 21, 2020 at 2:58 pm

      Hi Kiki! Are you using a natural peanut butter that could be causing this? Or maybe there is too much powdered sugar in the peanut butter that makes it too stiff. The peanut butter layer shouldn’t just slide off. Refer to step 4 for instructions on how thick the peanut butter mixture should be. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Graham Turner says

    November 6, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    5 stars
    Just made this today & it’s amazing 😁 It’s rich but not sweet. I couldn’t get chocolate chips so used 60% dark chocolate instead
    Thanks for a brilliant recipe

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      November 6, 2019 at 7:51 pm

      Thank you so much, Graham! I am so glad that you enjoyed the Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Alice says

    October 1, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    4 stars
    Something was off with the proportions for the chocolate— it never set, even when I froze it.

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      October 2, 2019 at 4:31 pm

      Hello, Alice! The chocolate is like a ganache so it won’t ever set to the point where it is rock hard or brittle. Is that what you were thinking? Either way, I hope that the peanut butter shortbread bars were tasty! 🙂

      Reply
  4. adela says

    August 29, 2019 at 8:33 am

    5 stars
    hi Sam this bars are so good and tasty- what brand of chocolate chips did you use- i used the Costco’s brand they only have them seasonal- so i buy for the year. thank you i give it 5 stars and also the shortbread millionaires.

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      August 29, 2019 at 3:38 pm

      I am so happy that you enjoyed the Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars, Adela! Thank you for your review and comment. I typically use Nestle or Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Catherine Bell says

    June 4, 2018 at 12:05 am

    Just wanted to say that I’ve enjoyed the recipes of yours that I’ve made so far :). I think I may have found a typo in the PB Shortbread Bars from May 29th. Should the weight by 260 g, not 360 g for 2.25 c of powdered sugar?

    Thanks, and I look forward to more amazing recipes!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      June 4, 2018 at 9:54 am

      You are absolutely right, yikes!! I just fixed the typo, thank you for bringing it to my attention Catherine!! <3

      Reply

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The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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