Wednesday, August 31, 2016

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I am both happy and dismayed to have found this recipe early this summer. Happy because it was a huge hit at every get together that I took it to; Dismayed because I had NO self-control when it came to eating it. I am a person that posted on Facebook years ago that there should be Reece's Peanut Butter Cup flavored gum. I would buy it by the case. This recipe has just the right combo of ingredients to strip away all of my will power.  Don't let that discourage you, though.  You DEFINITELY want to make this for your next get together.  (Just make sure you have some people to share it with.)

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup peanut butter, smooth
  • 2 cups (about 1 pack or 9 grahams) graham crackers, broken/crushed
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 cups chocolate chips plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil to help melt the chips
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Spray or line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper or tin foil.
  2. Break or crush the graham crackers into smaller pieces. (I put the crackers in a plastic bag and rolled them with a rolling pin to make a fine crumble.  You may like yours more chunky.  You really can't go wrong here.)
  3. In a saucepan, melt the butter and peanut butter together, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, mix the crushed graham crackers and powdered sugar. Once mixed, add in the peanut butter mixture, and mix to combine.
  5. Spread the peanut butter graham cracker mixture evenly into the pan.
  6. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and oil.  Microwave on medium for a minute at a time, stirring in between, until melted.
  7. Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter layer.
  8. Cover the pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until they are set.
  9. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Difficulty: easy
Time: about 1 hour, including cooling time
Source: adapted from http://thefirstyearblog.com