So, is it just me or does pretty much everyone look forward to the special holiday editions of Reese’s Peanut Butter products? The Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, Pumpkins, Christmas Trees, etc, pretty much make my day when they appear on store shelves. They’re just better than the normal ones, for some reason. But that’s beside the point. I really wanted to tell you about these peanut butter bars I’ve been making. They have the taste and texture of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but in bar form – and homemade, so you don’t have to worry about any mystery ingredients. I like to have a little something sweet around for after mealtimes or a snack, and this recipe make a pretty good size batch (I cut them into 1 in squares, so I get a ton of them) that I can keep in the fridge for that little bite of something indulgent. This recipe requires no baking, and while I like to use my double boiler to melt the chocolate, you could just stick it in the microwave if you wanted to skip that step, so they’re super simple to make. I can usually have them chilling in my freezer in about 25 minutes, so it makes for very little work with a pretty high yield of awesome.
Peanut Butter Bars Recipe
Adapted from Just a Pinch
Serves: 20-36 bars
Base:
1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (2 sleeves ground to a fine crumb)*
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1½ cups peanut butter
Topping:
¼ cup peanut butter
8oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped.
Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, letting the ends overhang. Combine first four ingredients in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Spread evenly into lined baking dish.
Combine chocolate and remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter in a double boiler.** Melt, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread on top of the peanut butter bar base and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove from the freezer and cut into 1inch squares. Enjoy!
*I tried to do this with the ziploc bag/rolling pin method, but the crumbs just aren’t fine enough and you won’t get a smooth texture. It still tastes delicious, but this is one case where if you have a food processor, this is the time to use it.
Also, I may occasioally not be so good with keeping my pantry stocked and only had 1 sleeve of honey grahams, so I substituted a sleeve of chocolate grahams for the remainder and it was awesome. Just a little more chocolate-y flavor, which is never a bad thing in my opinion.
**You could also do this in the microwave if you prefer.
