In the late 70’s my 10 year old brother (20 months my junior) gave me a cook book of cookies, candies and desserts for Christmas; he inscribed it with this sentiment: “This is really for me, in the long run!” And it was! The bad photography of that time didn’t stop me from making so many things from it, and one of the family favourites were Chewy Peanut Butter Bars. Being of European decent and first generation Canadians, peanut butter was not a standard staple in our household (you’d more than likely find Nutella in our pantry — a chocolate hazelnut spread). But we were somehow, now long forgotten introduced to the nutty, buttery spread. My brother loved it on toast, I just liked baking with it. We tried all the commercial varieties; Skippy was just too salty, and what up with that lonely peanut on top? Kraft had even less peanut taste, and too sweet! We ended up with a store brand of Just Peanuts without preservatives; now we grind our own in our local health food store. Just peanuts and nothing else. I’m a little skeptical of products that need not be refrigerated, like Kraft PB! How come it doesn’t go rancid, with all that fat in it?
Sadly, during our 2007 Reno I must have really purged because I can no longer find this beloved cook book (it might be at the cottage) so I’ve had to go by memory on the recipe and find a recipe that seems to be similar (my memory ain’t what it used to be). They were chewy, like brownies, but with PB and not chocolate, and they had a white chocolate and dark chocolate drizzle on top. Yum! I found this recipe at Cooks.com and it seems to fit the bill.
Chewy Peanut Butter Bars
Makes 3 dozen (1 1/2 to 2 inch) bars
Ingredients:
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. peanut butter, smooth or chunky
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp. vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips melted with about 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup icing sugar with enough drops of cold water to make a liquidy icing (but one that will set well)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- Heat peanut butter and butter together until melted.
- Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
- Add flour mixture and stir just until combined.
- Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack.
- When cool, spread the melted milk chocolate so that it coats the entire top. Working quickly, drizzle swirls of the white icing in a crazy pattern. Cut into 1-2″ square inch squares.
[…] Chewy Peanut Butter Bars √ […]
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What a great gift for a 10 year old to give! He had good insight 🙂
This is absolutely delicious. Love peanut butter and chocolate!!
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Thanks Judy, it was a great gift, he got many treats out of it, that’s for sure!
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[…] Chewy Peanut Butter Bars […]
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Your brother was exceptionally wise at a very young age. 😉
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So true, Jed, so true!
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You know, I’ve been a fan of peanut butter “as is”. It’s so cloying in the mouth and as you said, SO salty for me, no matter which brand (don’t get me started on the filthy slurry that is Nutella!) but when peanut butter is baked into cakes/cookies it becomes…. the stuff dreams are made of. My mother used to make peanut butter cookes and I loved them so much. I’m sure the cooked peanut butter must impart a similar flavour to these bars, and the topping is so pretty! 🙂
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Thanks Charles. I will be baking a diabetic PB cookie in about a week for my father-in-law. I’ll blog about it too.
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Now I like nutella and keep it in my pantry…but there is nothing like peanut butter. And these look amazing! (BTW – great sentiment in the cookbook!)
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Thanks Ann. That’s another really special thing about blogging; it’s a wonderful trip down memory lane!
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haha, sounds like a brother, alright! These peanut butter bars look fantastic Eva….chocolate and peanut butter is one of those irresistibly delicious combinations and I love the icing swirls on top… beautiful!
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Thank you Kelly. The baking is finally almost done, just one more cookie left!
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There really is just something about peanut butter. These look great.
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You bet, Greg, it’s a real treat!
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These look AWESOME. I make a similar peanut buttery-chocolate bar, but yours looks much better with the sugary-icing. YUM!
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Thanks Bill. They’re for my Christmas giveaways so I wanted them to look festive; you could just make chocolate icing for everyday,
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Miss A and Mr. N would eat this whole plate! I’d cut the chocolate off and eat the peanut butter bar. LOL. I know that’s terrible. The last time I made peanut butter bars, I left half the pan plain. Much prettier than slicing off the chocolate; although the kids never seem to mind when there’s extra chocolate bites laying around.
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I just can’t believe you don’t like chocolate, Kristy! Chocolate and PB are such a classic combo.
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Chocolate and peanut butter are one of my favorite flavor combos. I could eat the whole plate!
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They have a great chewy texture, Betsey. I love making bars because they are so easy and quick!
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Sounds like your brother is a wise gift-giver. This recipe sounds delicious and there’s nothing quite like a good peanut butter cookie. 🙂
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Thanks John. My brother’s family benefits from Xmas baking every year!
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