There are so many baked goods to satisfy a sweet tooth in New Zealand and a much lesser known one is this Peanut Brownies recipe which is less like a brownie and more like a solid little cocoa biscuit with peanuts throughout the dough.
Though most of the time you’ll find them in the cookie/biscuit aisle made by a beloved company called Farmbake that is synonymous with so many gatherings, but most frequently was something you'd purchase whilst hanging with friends. Have you heard of Peanut Brownie biscuits?
What really makes these particular peanut brownies so good is that they are both so incredibly like the ones I grew up with in New Zealand, but also like a modern version in that they are less cookie and more brownie cookie, but trust me, these are addictive!
Why you'll love these
The texture
Light and less a hard crunch biscuit peanut brownies, these are full of chocolate flavor and peanut bites but the biscuit is softer but still moreish.
Any peanuts will do
Plain roasted, salted, honey roasted all work here which means you can look in your pantry and get to making these.
How to prepare Peanut Brownies
Cream yo butta: Cream the butter and sugar until beautifully pale.
Add the eggs: Beat the eggs until combined.
Dries: Add the dry ingredients in and combine until smooth.
Roasted peanuts: Add those dry roasted peanuts and stir until well combined.
Scoop: Scoop out a portion of the cookie dough and place on your baking tray.
Bake: Place in the oven and bake.
Cool: Allow to cool fully before serving.
Serve: Serve alongside a glass of milk.
Ingredients and substitutions for Peanut Brownies
- Butter: Butter helps create that silky texture we love about brownies whilst also helping them rise. You could sub with non dairy butter, though I have not tried this. I do not recommend subbing oil in equal measure as it will likely make your brownies denser.
- Brown sugar: The brown sugar helps to make the brownies fudgy, however, you could substitute in equal measure with superfine or caster sugar which will result in a chewier final brownie. This also helps give your topping a caramelized flavor that wouldn’t be the same with superfine or caster sugar.
- Eggs: As well as adding structure to the brownies, the eggs bind everything together so are essential. You could substitute with vegan ingredients such as chia eggs or apple sauce, however, they have not been tested so might impact the dense texture of the brownies.
- Plain flour: Plain flour or all purpose is best because it helps give the brownies their texture without making them cakey or firm like bread if you use cake or bread flour. You also don’t want to overwork the dough so you don’t make these too stiff so only mix until you can see no more dry portions in your bowl.
- Salt: Without salt the chocolate flavors will be dull so it is essential to adding dimension to the brownies. Sea salt is best, but rock or kosher salt also works well.
- Cocoa Powder: The star ingredient here so you’ll want a nice high quality cocoa powder for a truly chocolate packed flavor. I do not recommend substituting melted chocolate in equal measure here as this can be quite dense, however, chocolate chips or chunks would work well as an addition.
- Dry roasted peanuts: The dry roasted peanuts adds a complimentary flavor to the chocolate cookies that would not be the same with plain peanuts.
See recipe card for quantities.
Tips for the best Peanut Brownies
Dry roasted peanuts: By using dry roasted peanuts there is minimal other flavors added which means you control the flavor whilst also upping the intensity of your peanuts, if using sweetened and roasted peanuts these will be significantly sweeter.
Scoop used here: The scoop used here is about 2.3 inches / 6 centimeters which produces large biscuits/cookies so you could absolutely get up to 18 biscuits from this batch with a smaller scoop.
Scoop used in video: The scoop used in the video is 1.97 inches / 5 centimeters which means the smaller cookies bake in 10 minutes versus the 14 minutes mentioned in the recipe.
More classic cookie recipes you’ll enjoy
What people are saying about these!
'Thank you for this recipe. When I first made these, someone had taken my peanuts so I substituted with chocolate drops and added a spoonful of peanut butter. Amazing! Then I purchased more peanuts and got the honey roasted by mistake… I think this mistake was a great one!'
How to make Peanut Brownies:
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Cream the butter and sugars in a bowl until pale and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes with a hand beater.
Add the eggs and beat until all well combined, approximately 2 minutes.
Toss in the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, soda and salt and beat on low until just combined.
Add the peanuts and fold through the dough until combined.
Scoop out cookie amounts (a large tablespoon amount) and place on your baking tray.
Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes or until brown on the edges.
Remove and allow to cool on the tray for 2 minutes.
Slide onto on a cooling tray to cool completely.
Serve with a glass of milk.
Dig in!
Peanut Brownies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: Makes 12 biscuits
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: New Zealand
Description
A traditionally store bought biscuit gets a homemade turn with this Peanut Brownies recipe. You can make a batch at home easily and incredibly addictive.
Ingredients
180 grams / 6.3 ounces butter, room temperature
100 grams / ½ cup caster/superfine sugar
70 grams / ⅓ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
73 grams / ⅔ cup cocoa powder
267 grams / 1 ⅔ cups plain flour
3 grams / ½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
120 grams / 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Cream the butter and sugars in a bowl until pale and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes with a hand beater.
- Add the egg and beat until all well combined, approximately 2 minutes.
- Toss in the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, soda and salt and beat on low until just combined.
- Add the peanuts and fold through the dough until combined.
- Scoop out cookie amounts (a large tablespoon amount) and place on your baking tray.
- Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes or until brown on the edges.
- Remove and allow to cool on the tray for 2 minutes.
- Slide onto on a cooling tray to cool completely.
- Serve with a glass of milk.
- Dig in!
Notes
Dry roasted peanuts: By using dry roasted peanuts there is minimal other flavors added which means you control the flavor whilst also upping the intensity of your peanuts, if using sweetened and roasted peanuts these will be significantly sweeter.
Scoop used here: The scoop used here is about 2.3 inches / 6 centimeters which produces large biscuits/cookies so you could absolutely get up to 18 biscuits from this batch with a smaller scoop.
Scoop used in video: The scoop used in the video is 1.97 inches / 5 centimeters which means the smaller cookies bake in 10 minutes versus the 14 minutes mentioned in the recipe.
Recipe by Roamingtaste
Nutrition
- Calories: 290 calories per cookie
Keywords: peanut brownie biscuits, new zealand biscuit, brownie cookies
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