Sugar Free Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
Brownies. Gooey, chocolate-y, delicious, warming, creamy brownies. And…and…they are sugar free.
Oh yes, my friends, we’ve hit the jackpot.
Back when I was eating sugar left, right and centre, I had a particular fondness for Smitten Kitchen’s cocoa brownie recipe. It wasn’t quite as gooey as I liked, but on the whole, it was pretty yummy.
So when it came to trying to figure out the perfect sugar free brownie recipe, I knew I would start with this one.
Still, there were quite a few changes I needed to bear in mind. Sugar, naturally. But also keeping in the rich flavour, and somehow upping the gooey-ness to make them even more more-ish and tasty. I find that the richer the brownie, the smaller a portion you need to feel full and satisfied. And since even sugar free sweet treats are to be seen as just that, treats, I wanted them to be rich and filling.
Oh, and I couldn’t resist a peanut butter swirl. Mostly because I think there is possibly no greater flavour combination than chocolate and peanut butter. (You can leave it out if you like – make sure you up the butter in the brownie by the same amount as the peanut butter though – but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s so much better with it!)
I tested and tried out and tasted. A lot.
And oh, I nailed it.
Sorry, I should probably work on my humility.
But guys, these brownies are just too good not to get excited about.
Try them, you’ll see.
And when you do? Why not take a picture and tag @raisingsugarfreekids on Instagram? I’d love to see your pictures!
- 100 g (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 65 g (1/3 cup) xylitol
- 65 g (1/2 cup) cacao powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 medium eggs
- 65 grams (1/3 cup) ground almonds
- 40 g (1-2 heaped tbsp) sugar free peanut butter
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Preheat oven to 180C/350f/gas 4. Grease a small brownie (square or rectangular) tin (the smaller the tin, the thicker the brownie and the longer needed in the oven).
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Melt butter, xylitol, cacao powder and salt in a heatproof bowl over a pan with a small amount of barely simmering water, ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water. Keep an eye on the mixture and stir regularly. As soon as the mixture is melted and combined, take off the heat. Stir in vanilla extract and allow to cool slightly for a few mins.
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Stir in eggs, then add the ground almonds and mix until just combined.
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Pour into greased brownie tin and heat peanut butter in the microwave until only just melting* (it took me about 30 secs). Spoon the peanut butter in splodges over the brownie batter and swirl in with a knife to create a marbled effect.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins, until the outside edges are cooked and the middle is only just starting to firm. If you like your brownies fudgy and extra gooey, feel free to remove them earlier (until the middle is only just cooked on top). If you prefer your brownies cakey and cooked, leave until the mixture is cooked all the way through.
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Best served warm. These brownies are rich and beautiful on their own, but if you like additions, serve with cream, yogurt or sugar free ice cream (dairy or coconut works for all of these options!).
*If the peanut butter is drying out instead of melting, add no more than a teaspoon of butter to help it liquify more. You don't want to add more or the brownies will be greasy, but sometimes the peanut butter is a drier one and needs a little help to melt!
This looks yummy- can’t wait to try it post January whole30!
You should! How’s the Whole 30 going? We’ve been seriously considering trying it out ourselves to figure out if there are any other foods that are potentially an issue for any of us!
Great to stumble across your site. I’m getting some kickback from my eldest (9 years) at the moment who just wants the rubbish in his lunch box that his peers are having. I’m struggling between not being too restrictive and making sure it’s still healthy(er). I try to take a more wholefoods approach and wondering what I could use in place of sugar replacements such as stevia etc? Thanks
Hi Kelly, I tend to choose natural sweeteners like xylitol and stevia because they are fructose-free and not included as free sugars by the World Health Orgsnisation, but I still use them as treats because, like you, I try to take a whole/real foods approach to our diet as much as possible, so I get where you are coming from. For these brownies specifically, the sweetener can be replaced in a 1:1 ratio with unrefined sugar, honey or maple syrup and still come out at only 5g (just over 1 tsp) sugar per portion, so feel free to sub for one of those if you prefer. If you are happy using stevia, I would recommend using that instead of the xylitol as it is fructose-free, but you would need to use a lot less (I like liquid stevia and would probably use just a couple of drops then taste and adjust as needed). You could try non-free-sugars like unsweetened apple puree or mashed banana, but it would significantly change the taste and texture, and would need a fair bit of adjusting. Hope one of these options works for you – let me know how you get on. If you’d like to know more about sweeteners, including wholefoods one, I have a “guide to sweeteners” here: https://www.raisingsugarfreekids.com/well-stocked-pantry/a-guide-to-sweeteners/ 🙂
Hi there. Would a cheesecake/raspberry topping work at all?
Hi Sarah, I’ve not tried the recipe with a cheesecake topping before, so not sure if that would work, but I imagine it would as it would be a similar consistency as the peanut butter. I’ve tried with mashed frozen raspberries once before I think, and it turned out alright, although a touch drier than the PB so I would probably check the brownies with a skewer a little earlier to make sure they weren’t cooking all the way through if you like your brownies on the fudgy side. For the cheesecake swirl, I would probably try swapping the same amount of cream cheese mixed with a little vanilla extract for the peanut butter. I’m not sure how it would cook though – it might need a bit of beaten egg to stop it from cracking and drying out? Let me know if you try it, I’d love to know how they turn out as that sounds like a yummy idea! 🙂
Great, thank you! I’ll definitely let you know if I try that. I made them today with your recipe as it is and yes, they were fab!!
Yay, glad you enjoyed them! Hope the cheesecake ones turn out well – I will definitely have to give that a go sometime! 😉