Five Layer Brownie Blondies

Brownie blondies that are so much more: oreos, chocolate chips and peanut butter cups interspersed between a fudgy rich brownie layer on the bottom and a chewy, butterscotch blondie layer on top. 

Every once in awhile I feel like baking something multi-layered and really, totally ridiculous; like stuffing an oreo between two different kinds of cookie doughs or making a birthday cake ice cream that has bits of cookie dough and cake in it. An over-the-top dish like these gooey rainbow layered bars, because I usually have everything on hand and think this could be good, very good. Usually I’m right… (except for one time when it was a choc cake with caramel and a meringue and that was just TOO much, lol). 

I had seen a tiktok of a 7 layer brownie, recently, I can’t remember what was in the layers but the song, Iko Iko that played in the background, stuck with me. After a week of listening to it on repeat, I hatched a plan to make these. 

And damn it, it was so easy! I made both batters at the same time, with a few adjustments to my basic brownie and blondie recipes… they were ready to go into the oven in less than twenty minutes. The hardest part was waiting for them to cool so I could slice in (with that much chocolate in there I didn’t want a mess on my hands). And listen, they’re good – like really good. Let’s do this. 

Ingredients for Five Layer Brownie Blondies

Butter: Unsalted and cold as it will be melted. You can use dairy-free butter here too. 

Brown sugar: Blondies always have brown sugar whereas brownies do not – however, I use the brown sugar in both batters here, to make it easier and to keep the bottom layer a little soft since it will cook for awhile. 

Eggs: This recipe cannot be made egg free. 

Cocoa: Dutch process cocoa makes for a rich brownie taste, don’t use natural or the ‘chocolate’ taste won’t come through as well. 

Flour: All-purpose flour. If using measuring cups, shake the flour over the measuring cup to fill then scrape the top to level it. If you need to make these gluten-free use a 1-to-1 flour substitute (I also think oat flour works well here). 

Oreos: I used oreo thins but any kind of oreo will do. 

Chocolate Chips: Use dark chocolate chips, there’s a lot of ‘sweet’ in this layered bar so breaking that up with dark chocolate helps and makes for a richer taste. 

Peanut butter cups: You can set these in whole or you can chop them up, they’ll just be sprinkled over the top layer before baking. 

How to make Five Layer Brownie Blondies

Make the brownie batter: 

1. Melt the butter, whisk in the sugar. 
2. Whisk in the flavorings and the eggs, really well. 
3. Fold in the flour and cocoa. 

Make the blondie batter: 

1. Melt the butter, whisk in the sugar. 
2. Whisk in the flavorings and the egg. 
3. Fold in the flour. 

Layer the batter and fillings for Brownie Blondies: 

• First layer: brownie batter
• Second: oreos 
• Third: chocolate chips 
• Fourth: blondie batter 
• Fifth: peanut butter cups 

How much chocolate should I add to the middle layer? And how many peanut butter cups on top? 

For the chocolate chips, about two handfuls; you don’t want to cover every cm of the brownie batter with them but have it mostly covered. For the peanut butter cups, just enough so that every bar will have a good amount. 

What kind of chocolate should I use? 

Dark chocolate chips or chop up a dark chocolate bar. I use trader joes 72% chocolate chips; they are phenomenal. For my top layer I used a few different pb cups I had on hand (not because I was being creative, it’s just what I had left of each lol): reeses dark chocolate cups (these are the widest ones you can see in the photo), trader joes dark chocolate cups and tj’s mini pb cups. I’d avoid milk chocolate unless you like your sweets, SWEET. 

How will I know when the bars are done baking? 

The center will puff up. If you’d prefer to use a cake tester,note that the tester will come up with at least a little ‘goo’ on it, but it should be thick, not runny.  Also note, if using a 9×9” square pan the bars will take a little less long to bake. 

What else can I use besides peanut butter cups? 

Something salty here is really, really welcome so if you’ve got a peanut allergy try an almond or cashew butter cup. Alternatively, pretzels could work although you might want to add a bit more chocolate to the top as well. 

Five Layer Brownie Blondies Recipe

Five Layer Brownie Blondies

A layer of chewy brownie, oreos, dark chocolate chips, a butterscotch blondie layer and peanut butter cups!

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Yields: 12

4.67 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer

• 1/2 cup butter 113g
• 1 cup brown sugar 220g
• ½ cup dutch process cocoa 60g
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• Small splash of vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour 31g

Oreos

dark chocolate chips

For the Blondie Layer

• ½ cup unsalted butter 113g
• 1 cup light brown sugar 210g
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour 180g

Peanut butter cups

• flaky sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8 or 9” square pan with parchment paper (ensure you have overhang on all sides).
• I like to make the brownie and blondie layers at the same time since the ingredients and steps are almost identical: set the butter in a heatproof bowl and melt it. Whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Give it a really good whisk so that the mix is nice and smooth then add the egg to the blondie bowl and the eggs to the brownie bowl (the brownie batter will be lighter in color due to the extra egg).
• Add the flour to the bowls and the cocoa to the brownie batter, whisk well.
• Spread the brownie batter over the prepared pan. Place about 9 oreo cookies and press them a bit so they sink into the brownie batter. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.
• Now spread the blondie layer on top and add the peanut butter cups, don’t worry about pressing these in.
• Bake for about 40 minutes until puffy in the center and it has fallen after rising, if you find it’s over browning before it’s puffing cover it with foil so the center will cook.
• Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the bars and allow to cool fully before slicing.

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