Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

There are not much things better that one can eat besides Chocolate and Peanut Butter. For years now, I have been making these yummy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (especially around the holidays) because they are a family favorite. Heavens only knows if I gain weight just by looking at them, lol, but dang they are SOO good! I wanted to share this recipe with you so we can enjoy them together.

I posted about a fun way to make these in Jars (Peanut Butter Bars in a Jar) a while back, I really like the way turned out. Perfect for gift giving.

Here is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Recipe:

Ingredients

• For Peanut Butter Mixture:
• 1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of margarine or butter – melted
• 1 cup of peanut butter (I used chunky because I like the peanuts in the bars)
• 1 tsp of Vanilla (imitation or extract)
• 3-4 cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs (about 40-50 squares)
• For Chocolate Topping:
• 1 12 oz package of Chocolate Chips (about 2 cups)
• 1/4-1/2 cup of Peanut Butter (I used chunky because I like the peanuts in the bars)

Instructions

1. To make the graham cracker crumbs, I just added squares to a food processor and crushed them.
2. In a large bowl mix the sugar, margarine, 1 cup of peanut butter, and vanilla with a hand mixer until well blended.
3. Stir in the Graham Crackers crumbs about a cup at a time until mixture thickens up and becomes stiff.
4. Line a 9″x13″ baking dish with tinfoil – leaving about 1-2″ hanging over the edge of the dish. (this will make it so easy to lift the bars out, cut them, and serve them without digging at the pan. And it’s very little clean-up.)
5. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the lined baking dish.
6. Put 2 cups (about 1 bag) of Chocolate Chips and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter into a microwave safe dish (you can use the same one you used to melt the butter) and microwave the chocolate and peanut butter mixture for about 30 seconds at a time stirring in between each time you heat it. It only took two turns in the microwave for it to be melted good enough then I just stirred it to blend it.
7. Pour the chocolate mixture over the peanut butter mixture and smooth the surface. If you would like to add extra toppings like shredded coconut, caramel, crushed candy cane, etc you can add those to the top of the chocolate now.
8. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let it chill for 1-3 hours. Cut into squares and serve. They should be kept in the fridge to reduce “melting” but are ok left out as well.

I am excited to bring you 12 Days of Holiday Desserts – put together by myself and 11 of my friends to bring you the yummiest treats we could make. Just check out the linky below to see all of the other delicious recipes.