I am not a fan of peanut better but we always have a jar of Adams in the fridge. The man and the girl LOVE peanut
butter. So occasionally, I make them a peanut butter treat. This recipe comes
from allrecipes.com. It tastes just like a candy bar. The base is dense and
crunchy and the frosting is chocolaty. I made the first bar a long time ago,
and then I made it again the other day. I never have to freeze leftovers. I put
it out and it just disappears.
PEANUT BUTTER BARS
Base:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups quick oats
3/4 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3-1/2 cups icing sugar
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda, then whisk in quick oats, set aside.
- In the bowl whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 3-4 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
- Blend in 3/4 cup peanut butter.
- Stir in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combine.
- Mix in vanilla.
- On low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Spread the mixture into an even layer into a prepared rimmed cookie sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, until lightly golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. At this point, it is too fragile to spread it with peanut butter.
- After the base solidifies a bit spoon the remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter on the top.
- Allow the peanut butter to rest for 1 minute then carefully spread it into an even layer.
- Next, prepare the chocolate frosting.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Whisk in cocoa powder, then whisk in milk and bring mixture just to a boil.
- Once mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Add in icing sugar and mix until well blended.
- Immediately pour over peanut butter layer and spread into an even layer. Beware the frosting sets quickly
- Let the frosting cool before cutting into squares.
- Store the bars in single layers.
