Peanut Butter Cup Bars

I recently did a test of several bar cookie recipes for a group of coworkers at work. Being the engineer that I am I had them rank the taste and appearance and then rank them against the other bars in the test. This bar cookie was overwhelming the winner. In fact one of the testers didn't even get to taste this cookie, because it was so good that the other coworker "borrowed" his from his desk.

I have since been ask to remake them for them, so that they can do a test on variation to see if they are as good the second time around. If I didn't know their tricks than I think that I would think they doubted my cooking, but that is not the case... they were just so good they want REPEATS and a lot of them.

I really should remake them for them, because they are super easy. The only hard part is waiting the 30 minutes for them to set.

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter
1¾ cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter (smooth was recommend, but it could be great with crunchy)
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup milk chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

You will need an 8X8 or 9X9 pan for this recipe. Line it with foil, and then butter it.

Like any no bake recipe I like to be prepared and have everything handy for the critical moments when everything has to be put into the pan. So measure out 1 cup of peanut butter. When measuring peanut butter or anything "sticky" I always spray some butter shortening in the bottom of the cup so that it won't stick as much when it comes out.

Next step is to prepare the graham crackers. I did mine in the food processor, but I'm sure you could also put them in a ziploc bag and break them up that way as well.

In a medium size pan melt 1/2 cup of butter completely over the low heat, stirring constantly as it melts. Once melted move off the stove and stir in the powdered sugar until it is smooth. Then mix in the peanut butter and the graham cracker and mix until smooth. Put this peanut butter goodness into the prepared pan with foil, and smooth it out till it sits evenly in the pan.

In another small pan melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and then add in the chocolate. Stir on low heat until the chips are almost completed melt, then take it off the heat and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Poor the chocolatey goodness on to the peanut butter layer. Even it out the best that you can.

Let cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, and then cut into 12-16 pieces.

I originally saw this recipe on the brown eyed baker website.

Thanks for spending peanut butter and chocolate week with me. Next week we will be heading to the grill with International Hotdogs!