Healthier Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Yes I call these healthier brownies not healthy brownies because although they are a better for you option compared to normal brownies I would not call them outright healthy.  But when your craving peanut butter brownies these babies will do the trick!

Several years ago I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies that I loved and made many times but I knew they were dreadfully unhealthy for you.  They contained a stick and a half of butter in the 13 x 9 pan along with loads of sugar... needless to say my conscious soon kicked in and I stopped making them all the time for my family and friends.

This recipe is my attempt to recreate those original delicious but awful brownies.  I saw a post for Skinny Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies on Pinterest and decided to alter the recipe a bit to try and make it more like my old favorite brownies.  Although not completely the same, I feel a lot better making these and eating them knowing that they are a healthier version.  

Healthier Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

•         12 oz. plain Greek yogurt
•          ½ cup skim milk
•         2 eggs (could use 4 egg whites)
•          ½ teaspoon salt
•          2 teaspoons baking powder
•          2 cups sugar (plus 2 tablespoons)
•          1 cup cocoa powder
•          1 cup old fashion oats
•          2 teaspoons vanilla
•          ¾ cup quick oats
•          1 ¼ cup peanut butter (I used a name brand creamy natural peanut butter)

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray.

2.      Place all of the ingredients except for the peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and quick oats into a blender.  (Make sure it’s a big size blender not one of those individual drink kind of ones.)  For easier blending, place the liquid ingredients into the blender first then the dry ingredients on top. Blend the mixture until its smooth and oats are ground up. You will have to stop the blender and scrape down the sides a few times.  

3.  Then stir in the quick oats until mixed completely.

4.     Pour the batter into prepared baking dish that was previously sprayed.  The batter will be really thin. 

5.  Microwave the peanut butter and 2 Tablespoons sugar for about 30 seconds. Drop the melted peanut butter by spoon full (or drizzles) onto the batter, swirling gently with a knife to create a marbled effect.   You want to try and not over mix it because you still want the chocolate batter and peanut butter to be separate.

6.      Bake for 20-30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Make sure the brownies are completely cool before trying to cut them.  

If you cut the brownies into 24 pieces they will be around 180 calories compared to my original brownies that had around 250 calories each!  In order to cut calories more the sugar could be reduced or substituted by other ingredients like non-sugar sweeteners, applesauce, or honey.  I'm not sure how these substitutions would affect the texture or taste though... if you want to try doing this I'd suggest first switching out only half the amount of sugar to see how it changes the brownie.  

Enjoy and have fun with these Healthier Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies!!!

Recipe that I altered to create my version came from Sallys Baking Addiction