{"id":4482,"date":"2010-11-03T16:51:15","date_gmt":"2010-11-03T22:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/?p=4482"},"modified":"2010-11-03T16:51:15","modified_gmt":"2010-11-03T22:51:15","slug":"peanut-butter-chocolate-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/03\/peanut-butter-chocolate-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Oh. \u00a0My. \u00a0Good. \u00a0Gracious. \u00a0These things are crazy good. \u00a0And they came about all because of one lonely jar of chunky natural peanut butter that had been stashed in the back of my pantry for a while. \u00a0He was reaching the end of his shelf life on November 8, 2010. \u00a0I bet this jar of peanutty goodness never even dreamed of being used in something so wonderful. \u00a0He thought maybe he was destined to be the star player in a few PB & J’s or maybe to be spread on some celery. \u00a0I had much bigger plans for him.<\/p>\n

In order to use my natural peanut butter I just searched “desserts with natural peanut butter” in Google and after searching through a few cookie recipes I found this recipe on Joy the Baker. \u00a0Here is the link to the recipe<\/a>. \u00a0I made minimal changes to the original. \u00a0Chunky instead of smooth peanut butter, regular brown sugar instead of dark, and semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate.<\/p>\n

These taste like a dressed up Reese’s cup. \u00a0The peanut butter layer comes together easily in one pot. \u00a0The chocolate frosting is also incredibly simple to make and spreads nicely on the cooled bars. \u00a0This is an\u00a0altogether\u00a0simple and delicious bar that I will definitely be adding to my go-to recipe collection. \u00a0After frosting the bars I chilled them in the fridge which makes the quite easy to cut. \u00a0We ate them cold from the fridge and they were delicious, but letting them warm up a bit makes for a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth experience. \u00a0Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars<\/h6>\n
Peanut Butter Layer<\/h6>\n
    \n
  • 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 cubes<\/li>\n
  • 2 cups brown sugar<\/li>\n
  • 1 cup chunky natural peanut butter<\/li>\n
  • 2 eggs<\/li>\n
  • 2 \u00a0teaspoons vanilla extract<\/li>\n
  • 1\/2 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n
  • 2 cups flour<\/li>\n
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Directions<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Preheat oven to 325\u00b0\u00a0F. \u00a0Grease a 9×13-inch pan.<\/li>\n
    2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar together until the butter is just melted. \u00a0Remove from the burner and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the peanut butter. \u00a0Stir until incorporated. \u00a0Allow to cool for 5 minutes more, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.<\/li>\n
    3. Whisk together salt, flour and baking powder. \u00a0Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients. \u00a0Stir until just incorporated. \u00a0Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan and smooth out.<\/li>\n
    4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the\u00a0bars comes out clean. \u00a0Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Milk Chocolate Frosting<\/h6>\n
        \n
      • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened<\/li>\n
      • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder<\/li>\n
      • 1\/4 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n
      • 1 1\/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar<\/li>\n
      • 3 Tablespoons milk<\/li>\n
      • 3\/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder and salt.<\/li>\n
        2. Add 1\/2 cup powdered sugar followed by 1 tablespoon milk. \u00a0Beat well.<\/li>\n
        3. Add another cup of powdered sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of milk.<\/li>\n
        4. Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler. \u00a0Add melted and slightly cooked milk chocolate the frosting and beat to incorporate.<\/li>\n
        5. Add the final 1\/2 cup of powdered sugar if you need a bit more thickness.<\/li>\n
        6. Spread evenly over peanut butter bars.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n