I paired “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” with chocolate-covered pumpkin pie, so I knew I wanted to pair “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with another chocolate confection.

This time, I made more of a reference to the beloved Peanuts gang by making fudgy peanut butter brownies.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 9-18 “servings” depending on how big of a brownie you like.

Brownie Ingredients
0.5 cups vegan chocolate chips
0.33 cups vegan butter or margarine
0.25 cups cocoa powder
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
1 cup sugar
0.5 cups vegan milk
1 cup flour
0.5 teaspoons baking powder
0.25 teaspoons salt
0.5 cups vegan chocolate chips

Peanut Fudge Ingredients
0.5 cups creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegan butter or margarine, melted
0.33 cups powdered sugar
0.5 teaspoons peanut butter extract

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 8″ by 8″ baking pan with parchment paper.

Using a microwave-safe bowl, melt the first half cup of chocolate chips, vegan butter and cocoa powder together in 30-second increments in the microwave. Stir the mixture between each heating burst until a smooth chocolate ganache is formed.

Stir in the sugar and chocolate extract. (If you don’t have chocolate extract, you can use vanilla.)

Add the flour, baking powder and salt.

Once the batter is formed, stir in the extra chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into your baking pan and smooth it out.

In a new bowl, mix the peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar and peanut butter extract together. (As with the chocolate extract, you can replace the peanut butter extract with vanilla.)

Dollop the fudgy peanut butter on top of the brownie batter so there will be pieces of it in every brownie.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F.

Let the brownies cool completely before slicing. Slice and serve with “A Charlie Brown Christmas!”

The Easy Route
You could get a vegan, gluten-free brownie mix instead of making them from scratch, or you could skip the powdered sugar and just dollop plain peanut butter into the brownie batter.

Know of a brand, bakery or restaurant that makes vegan, gluten-free peanut butter brownies? Share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been a holiday viewing tradition for me for as long as I can remember.

This beloved TV special centers on Charlie Brown and his group of friends coming together for a Christmas pageant.

There are the hijinks with Linus, Snoopy, Lucy and the rest of the gang.

For me, this film represents the power of chosen family and coming together to make art, even if it is just a kids’ Christmas pageant.

I adore the whole Peanuts gang, from the big names like Charlie Brown, Linus and Snoopy to the less-talked-about characters like Pigpen and Schroeder.

In “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” these characters all get some moments in the spotlight.

If you decide to make these brownies and/or watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, TikToks and/or tweets: @veg_out_recipes. We’re also on Bluesky as @vegoutrecipes.bsky.social.