Spelt Brownies with Peanut Butter Drizzle and Sea Salt

To me, brownies are the quintessential picnic dessert. They travel well, are a crowd pleaser, require no extra plates or forks and are the easiest thing ever to whip up (which is the most important factor in my opinion, especially when you’re trying to whip up sandwiches, BBQ items, side salads AND wrangle your family). So what I’m getting at is, these are the perfect dessert to bring to your Fourth of July picnic tomorrow. Or make them tonight and eat the whole dang pan yourself.

For this recipe, I upgraded my favorite brownie recipe with spelt flour. Why spelt? The richness and depth of flavor spelt flour provides makes the most chewy, delicious brownies you’ll ever nosh. Trust me on this. We also added a peanut butter drizzle, a chocolate drizzle, a ton of extra flakey sea salt and a heavy handed sprinkle of chocolate chunks. CAN I GET AN AMEN?

Spelt Brownies with Peanut Butter Drizzle and Sea Salt

what you’ll need

1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white cane sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup spelt flour

for toppings:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1-2 tablespoons dark chocolate chunks
a heavy pinch of flakey sea salt

baker’s notes

For a vegan version, follow this recipe for my coconut oil brownies but sub out the all purpose flour for spelt flour.

I like to use Chocolove Strong Dark Chocolate 70% bars and Bob’s Red Mill spelt flour.

how to whip it up

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 8×8 pan with parchment.

In a small microwave safe dish, melt butter (~30 seconds). Add chocolate chunks to melted butter and microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, you shouldn’t have to microwave again, just be persistant with that stirring. Once you have a smooth consistency, stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let rest for 3-5 minutes.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together spelt flour and cocoa powder. Create a little well in center and crack eggs into well then whisk eggs until smooth. Pour in melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract. Whisk together until combined, don’t over mix! Pour batter into parchment lined pan.

Bake at 350°, start checking for doneness at 20 minutes. You want a tooth pick to come out gooey but not wet. Gooey means the brownies are done baking, but won’t dry out. Wet and runny means they need more time. Let cool.

For the toppings, heat peanut butter and chopped chocolate (separately!) in small sauce pans or in a microwave safe bowls until you have a runny consistency (I like to microwave 30 seconds, stir, then microwave another 15 seconds if needed). Drizzle both the peanut butter and chocolate sauce over slightly cooled brownies, sprinkle with a heavy hand of sea salt and chocolate chunks. Enjoy!

Keep covered up to 3 days at room temperature, 5 days refrigerated.