We LOVE Buckeye Brownies! Some of you might be wondering what exactly is a buckeye.
Well the name “buckeye” comes from Ohio. These wonderful desserts are meant to resemble the nut that comes from the Ohio buckeye tree.
With these when you cut into the brownies you will be able to see all of the peanut butter and chocolate layers just like if you were to cut into a buckeye nut.
Ingredient Notes
Buckeye Ingredients:
- Cocoa powder
- Eggs
- Salt
- Flour
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Creamy peanut butter
- Milk
- Milk chocolate chips
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:



How to make Buckeye Brownies
Brownies:
- Preheat oven to 325℉. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Melt butter, then stir in cocoa. Add in sugar and eggs to the mixing bowl and stir together.
- Add in vanilla, flour, and salt and beat together well.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Top with peanut butter layer and ganache.
Peanut butter layer:
- Place peanut butter and butter into medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy; scrape bowl.
- Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt.
- Beat on low speed 1 minute; scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Ganache:
- Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave for 2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, and mix until smooth.
- Spread on top of the frosting layer and let it cool until hardened.



Storing and Other Tips
Store Buckeye Brownies in the refrigerator. This way, the peanut butter and ganache layers won’t soften too much. Take the brownies out of the fridge about 15 minutes ahead of serving.
You can use crunchy peanut butter, but it will not give the same texture we are looking to achieve for the chocolate and peanut butter layered brownies.
THESE angled spatulas make spreading the chocolate ganache evenly very easy!
You can place the pan in the fridge to speed up the cooling process a bit.

Enjoy More Delicious Brownies Recipes
There’s nothing better than an easy brownie or bar recipe. Check out our comprehensive list of brownies, bars, and blondies here.

Buckeye Brownies
Ingredients
Brownie Layer:
- 8 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup butter (unsalted)
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ½ cups flour
- pinch of salt
Peanut Butter Layer:
- 1 cup peanut butter (creamy)
- ½ cup butter, (softened)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
Ganache Layer:
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- ¾ cup butter
Instructions
For The Brownies:
- Preheat oven to 325℉. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Melt butter, then stir in cocoa. Add in sugar and eggs to the mixing bowl and stir together.
- Add in vanilla, flour, and salt and beat together well.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Top with peanut butter layer and ganache.
For the peanut butter layer:
- Place peanut butter and butter into medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy; scrape bowl.
- Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt.
- Beat on low speed 1 minute; scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
For the ganache:
- Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave for 2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, and mix until smooth.
- Spread on top of the frosting layer and let it cool until hardened.


















This brownie looks amazing. My questions is do you cool the brownies before you put the peanut butter layer on?
Yes, cool the brownies before adding the peanut butter layer.
I made these for my family and to say the least, THEY LOVED THEM! The 3 steps are easy, require basic ingredients and the results are fantastic, delicious, and loved by all!
So glad your family loved the buckeye brownies! They are some of our favorites!
Do they need to be refrigerated?
If you don’t eat them in the first day or two, then place in a covered container in the fridge.
The peanut butter layer calls for salt in the directions but doesn’t have salt listed in the ingredients. How much salt should you use?
You can leave it out all together or add a pinch. Especially if you are using salted butter.
Just made these, such an easy recipe
These brownies are the bomb! I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter together!
I liked these, but I think using oil might be better instead of butter.
I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but we only have a cheat day one day a week and there is no way we’d eat these all in one day. I plan to half the recipe, but I’m curious, do you know if these would freeze well? I figure if I’m already making them, and can freeze them, it would be nice to be able to just pull one or two out a week to munch on. Thank you!
You can definitely freeze them in an airtight freezer container or Freezer bag.
I loved this recipe! They were amazing! Thank you for sharing!