Brownie Donuts with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
Jan 07, 2013, Updated Mar 03, 2017
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These brownie donuts with fluffy peanut butter frosting are the best dessert for your chocolate peanut butter fix. The brownies are rich and the frosting is fluffy and light.
Please don’t hate me. These “donuts” or “doughnuts” are amazing and addicting so I had to share. I also was torn on how to label the recipe. Are you a donut or doughnut kinda person? I asked this question one night on my Nutmeg Nanny Facebook page and got the following feedback: 16 people call them “donuts” and 8 people call them “doughnuts”…oh and one person called them “fat.” I guess I can’t argue with that 1 person but I’m still not going to stop eating donuts doughnuts those delicious things that get me into a lot of trouble.
Now, to be honest these really are not true donuts as much as they are brownies that look like donuts. I bought a baked donut pan a while ago and was itching to use it. I figured what’s better than brownies? Plus, because everything needs to be topped, I made fluffy peanut butter frosting. This frosting was so light and fluffy I couldn’t stop eating the stuff. After I ate two (sigh) I put three in a container and took them to work. My boss ate one and then her dog stole the other two. Don’t worry he was fine. Apparently, he has an iron stomach.
Of course, I only learned he had an iron stomach after I called the vet panicked that my boss would come home and find her dog dead. Seriously, he was fine.
I like to assume everyone loves the peanut butter and chocolate combo so check out this peanut butter Twix pie from my blogger friend or try a few of my delicious dishes like my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie S’mores, Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars or my Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate.
Brownie Donuts with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
These brownie donuts with fluffy peanut butter frosting are the best dessert for your chocolate peanut butter fix. The brownies are rich and the frosting is fluffy and light.
Yield: 6 frosted donuts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
For Donuts:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2-1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
For Peanut Butter Frosting:
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons half and half
- Pinch of kosher salt
Directions:
For Donuts:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 6 count donut pan with non-stick spray. You could also substitute a 8x8 dish if you want a cake instead of donuts.
In a medium sized pan add butter, chopped chocolate and espresso powder. Melt over medium heat until smooth and creamy.
Remove from heat and stir in white sugar and vanilla extract. Check the temperature of the batter. If it's still very warm let it cool for just a bit. If it's cool add in eggs and stir quickly to combine.
Add in flour and stir till all combined.
Add batter to donut pan (you should have made enough to just fill the 6 donut spaces) and bake for 12 - 15 minutes until fully cooked. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, gently take out of the pan and cool on wire rack. Once fully cooled top with fluffy peanut butter frosting.
For Peanut Butter Frosting:
In a bowl of an electric mixer add butter and peanut butter. Mix till blended.
Add in powdered sugar, mix, and add in as much half and half is needed to reach desired constancy. Add in a pinch of kosher salt and give the frosting a good stir.
That’s the best donut innovation I’ve seen in a long time! And who doesn’t love the chocolate and peanut butter combo? Definitely adding this to my recipe collection….thanks!
Brownies in donut form?! Yes, please!
I’m drooling here girl friend… love these! And I’m a “donut” person! 🙂
I got a doughnut pan for Christmas and in a way it’s a bummer b/c I’m trying to eat better and all baked doughnut recipes say they’re better fresh, which means I’d have to eat the whole batch in one sitting, or eat stale doughnuts throughout the week. Now this recipe I could take to work and share after having one, I love that! You are a genius girl. And BTW, my dog once ate half a 9×13 pan of brownies and she was fine (she just went into a food coma for a couple hours afterward-lol)–bigger dogs seem to be able to handle some chocolate whereas little ones can die from a small amount–I think it depends on their size as to how much they can tolerate before it becomes toxic. THank God ours is big b/c she’s really good at sneaking it! lol!
Just give me the spoon and a bowl of that frosting and no one gets hurt.
Ohhh man, forget donuts and doughnuts, these should be called heaven!
brownie doughnuts! Pure genius! I want to lick off the frosting! YUM!
Oh my goodness, these are killing me. I bought a doughnut pan last year and only used it once. Now I think I have a pretty good reason to get it out again.
Oh my word…you had me at brownie donut!!! And topped with fluffy peanut butter frosting…nothing sounds better than these right now! And too funny about the dog, we have one that steals anything she can find that is human food!
Could u make these w a boxed brownie mix ?
And when I make regular donuts at home, we eat about half of them and put the rest in the freezer. Super simple treat when kids have friends over.
Hi MamaLuci, Boxed brownies would work fine! A small 8×8 mix will give you 6 donuts and a large 9×13 mix will give you 12 donuts. If you use a large mix you will want to double the frosting too. Hope you enjoy the donuts!