Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
Today is Sunday and do you know what that means? #SundaySupper time! About one month ago when I made the Bacon and Dried Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies, the #SundaySupper group teamed up with Katie Workman, author of The Mom 100 Cookbook. Today we are back in the kitchen with Katie! And I made her Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares – a layer of creamy peanut butter goodness topped with a thick, teeth-sinking layer of chocolate.
The purpose of The Mom 100 is to provide fresh and quick recipes for parents to prepare with kids. I’m not a mom, but fresh and quick still applies to me because I work full-time during the week. My rule is dinner must be ready within an hour after getting home. In this case, it’s dessert. I woke up an hour early before work, made these Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares, put them in the fridge, then went to work (with chocolate on my arm). When you need a last-minute treat, these bars are it. Yes, it takes an hour to chill, but it’s one less thing to worry about when you are running around doing a million things.
I modified the recipe ever so slightly by adding peanuts on top while the chocolate was still hot. I like reemphasizing that these are peanut butter. The chocolate layer was my favorite part, mainly because it’s so thick, it literally cracks like a magic shell when you bite into it. I had plans to take extras into work Monday, but Dad and I kept eating them all weekend…
Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Layer:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate Layer:
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup salted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray.
- For the peanut butter layer: In a large bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and graham cracker crumbs until well-combined (it may still be a bit crumbly). Press the peanut butter layer into the pan as evenly as possible.
- For the chocolate layer: Boil water in a medium saucepan. When the water is boiling, place a heatproof bowl on top.
- Add the chocolate chips and butter and melt, stirring frequently.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and evenly spread it on top of the peanut butter layer. Top with peanuts. Cover with plastic wrap (don't let it touch the chocolate layer. Use toothpicks if necessary) and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into squares before serving.
Source: The Mom 100 Cookbook
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Oooh that looks so good! I love that you put peanuts in the top, I bet that really amps it up! I love choc and pb so this is just perfect :)
Pure heaven and perfect for summer time, no baking! A nice cool treat to enjoy, can’t wait to try.
Carla, this is awesome! Peanuts is my favorite. Your posts always made me want to grab the food from the monitor:D
Oooh, congrats on winning a copy! I’m sure you’ll have tons of fun using it too
Ooh, I love your photos! Seeing them really makes me want to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares. Great job Carla!
Alaiyo
Mmmm…these look SO good. And I’m scheduled to make them soon (using them for my next Mom 100 post). Love the peanuts on the top. I’ve been wondering about the graham crackers in the pb layer – can you taste them? Are they just for texture? Trying to decide which type to use or whether to use them at all. I’d love to hear your thoughts on their addition…
To be honest, if you handed me this bar to taste, I wouldn’t have said graham cracker crumbs. I think they contribute more to the texture and might be one of those “only notice when absent” ingredients. I would say use them the first time around to get a feel for the recipe the way it was written.
That’s what I figured since it was such a small amount. Thanks! =)
These are on my list of “To try next”. Love the addition of the salted peanuts on top!
I have everything to make these! The family is going to be SO happy. LOL!
I knew I’d love these just from the title…and you’re made them beautifully!!!! Happy #SundaySupper!!!
These look incredibly rich and delicious! Great combination of flavors.
These sounds really amazing, since I love anything with peanut butter & chocolate. Plus, I could probabaly find some gluten-free graham crackers or other kind of cookies/crackers for the peanut butter layer.
I have recently begun eating pb again and these look delicious! I will take a whole plate of them.
I cannot resist these 2 flavors — peanut butter and chocolate! Yum! Glad to share Sunday Supper with you!
Um, I’ll have 3. Thank you!
Chocolate and Peanut Butter is one of the best combos ever!! I will need to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!!
Absolutely gorgeous! The recipe and the photography … just beautiful. Thank you so much for all your #sundaysupper inspiration.
I would love to snack on this right now!