A little slice of Heaven…..

 

              Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars  

 

The delicious mixture of peanut butter and chocolate calls out to me. My recipe searches usually end up with something that has both ingredients in it. This recipe is extra wonderful because there is no baking. None. If you can melt butter and chocolate, you’re good.

 

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

1 ¼ 10X sugar (confectioner’s sugar)

¾ cup and 2 tbsp. crunchy natural peanut butter (extra crunchy works too)

8 tbsp. melted butter (cooled slightly)

2 tbsp. honey

 

Chocolate topping:

1½ cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp. butter

 

Whenever you cook, gather your ingredients and equipment first. You will need a food processor for this recipe. You can’t really substitute for one. In a 9 x 9 pan, with straight sides, place a piece of parchment paper. I cut the corners and fold them in. You want to be able to pull the mixture out of the pan after it is refrigerated.                                                                   To melt the chocolate for the topping, you need a pan, and a heat resistant bowl. If you have a double boiler this is the time to use it. You can stop wondering. Pour about ½ inch of water in the bottom of the pan. Make sure the bowl rests without touching the water. You want the water to simmer and gently heat the bowl melting the chocolate and butter, not burn it. Have your butter melted before you start mixing your ingredients. This will give it time to cool slightly.

 

In a food processor pulse the graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well mixed. Add the peanut butter, melted butter, and honey to mixture in food processor. Pulse until the mixture blended and comes together. It should look like cookie dough. HINT: Coat your measuring cup with PAM spray when measuring the peanut butter. This will make your life easier. The peanut butter won’t stick; it will slide right off. I spray the tablespoon with the spray also, so the honey and peanut butter slide right off.

 

Press the dough into the prepared pan. You will need to compact the dough with the bottom of a measuring cup. I also sprayed the bottom of this so the dough doesn’t stick. A little dab will do ya. Press it down and into each corner. Put this aside until the chocolate has melted. In the bowl, place the chocolate chips and butter. With a heat resistant spatula, stir until this all melts. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the peanut butter layer. You can use an offset spatula. A knife or regular spatula will do too.

Refrigerate for at least an hour. When chilled, grab the parchment and pull the mixture from the pan. This should cut into 36 bars. Unless you’re me. I would prefer 2 bars. One for you, one for me. These taste suspiciously like a certain candy bar with the same ingredients!

According to the original recipe they freeze well. I will never know. Enjoy!

Here’e the link to the original recipe