We hate to break it to you, peanut butter brownie lovers, but Joanna Gaines is not the original creator of this recipe — though, according to the New York Times, she is. This doesn't necessarily mean Gaines copied and pasted the recipe into her "Magnolia Table: Volume 2" cookbook.
However, upon further research, it was revealed, by Gaines herself, that the OG peanut butter brownie author is a person known as "Lucy." Inside the cookbook, Gaines credits the recipe to her good friend's mom, Lucy, who called them "best friend brownies."
Joanna Gaines is not a cookbook plagiarist, nor is she even remotely lacking when it comes to the gray area of creative attribution. The brownies ended up in her cookbook the way recipes tend to end up anywhere, floating from one satisfied and generous home chef to the next.
The brownie is so good and has the perfect texture. The creamy peanut butter (I personally would use crunchy in the future) adds some needed salty softness. And the super sweet fudge-like frosting just rounds everything out. I would honestly like to eat these all day long if they wouldn't put me into a diabetic coma!