Peanut butter and chocolate… a classic combination that we all love!
If the kids have found your secret chocolate stash, don’t panic! You can be eating these Peanut Butter Bars in about twenty minutes.
This recipe is a bit of a trip back to childhood for me. My Aunt Helen used to make these (along with the best pizza in the world which she taught me to make and I still make most Fridays).
I mentioned in this post that I got to visit with her a little bit during our last trip to Maine. We enjoyed thumbing through her heirloom recipe book. I say heirloom because it’s all of her favorites from the people in her life. Many are from my grandmother, who was also an amazing cook. Lots of her recipes show up here at eatbetterspendless.com. Anyway, each recipe is hand-written, in pencil, with a note on top citing the name of the person from whom Helen received the recipe. It’s a treasure indeed.
I asked her if she remembered a dessert she used to make, all I remembered is that it had a layer of peanut butter and a top layer of chocolate. She said “Oh you must mean these” and went right to this recipe.
It doesn’t take a lot to excite me. I was excited. It’s like I was reunited with an old friend!
They’re easy to make and a sure hit with the kids.
Just mix the butter, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and powdered sugar in a stand mixer.
Line a bar pan with wax paper
Spread the peanut butter mixture evenly into the pan. (Make sure you go out to the edges.)
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 25 second increments, stirring in between.
Once metled and stirred, stir in about 1 TBSP of peanut butter. This will help the chocolate spread easier and not crack when you cut the bars. (My aunt was sure to remind me of that little trick when we she gave me this recipe.)
Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter layer and spread evenly. (This is not what I call spreading evenly. I just thought it was a fun picture to share.)
That’s more like it.
Now, just refrigerate it for about 20 minutes and enjoy the magic!
- 1 cup butter, at room temp
- 1½ cups peanut butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 10-oz. chocolate chips (I used a mix of both milk chocolate and semi sweet)
- In a stand mixer, blend the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add in the cracker crumbs and mix.
- Add the powdered sugar and combine well.
- Line a bar pan with wax paper.
- Spread mixture evenly onto the bar pan. If it's really sticky you may need to add more powdered sugar so you can spread it.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave in 25 second intervals, stirring in between.
- When melted, add about 1 TBSP peanut butter and stir.
- Spread chocolate over peanut butter mixture.
- Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
For more yummy dessert recipes, follow my Desserts board:
Follow Beth Cranford/Eat Better Spend Less’s board Desserts on Pinterest.
i cannot ever get enough of peanut butter.. looks delicious. love the recipe too, one i will be saving!
Oh yum! I am definitely trying this recipe. Chocolate and peanut butter are two ingredients I can’t say no to. My favorite!!
If that’s the case you’ll love these. They taste a lot like a peanut butter cup.