PEANUT BUTTER CUP BARS

I guess I am just in a peanut butter mood this week! First I made spicy peanut noodles and then I decided I wanted to make some kind of no-bake peanut butter bars. And I'm the boss of me, so I did.

Actually, I also hosted Friendsgiving this week at the office. If you haven't been reading since last year, Friendsgiving is an annual tradition we have here at ABM. It's a friend or office Thanksgiving. It's my favorite event every year because it's basically a cooking marathon, which is fun! If I had to do it every week it probably wouldn't be as fun, but hosting a giant dinner party is such a pleasure for me. 

Anyway, one item I had planned was a chocolate pie. I had practiced it before and it was great. Then I went to make it the day before Friendsgiving and I decided to try a slightly different cooking/baking method, and it was an EPIC FAIL. And I didn't have time to make another. I had another dessert planned, but it didn't feed everyone, so I ended up also serving these peanut butter cup bars since they were in the freezer. Life saver.

So not only are these delicious (think giant peanut butter cups!), they also are awesome to have in your freezer, ready for unexpected company or when a planned dessert goes terribly wrong. :)

I realize this is also dangerous advice, as you could end up just systematically eating them all over the course of a week. Not that anyone would ever do something like that (wink).

Peanut Butter Cup Bars, makes nine (8" x 8" square pan).

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 1/2 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
1/2 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups

In a bowl stir together the first five ingredients listed. Butter a square baking dish and press the peanut butter batter into the pan. 

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and oil. Melt on high for 30 seconds, stir, then melt for another 30 seconds. If needed you can melt it for an additional 15-30 seconds. Pour the melted chocolate over the top and spread to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle on the chopped peanut butter cups.

Cover and freeze for 30 minutes to an hour (or overnight). Once hardened cut into squares. You can serve these right away or wrap each bar and store in the freezer.

I'm not positive how long these will last in the freezer if wrapped. We ate all of our ours within two days, but I bet these would store well for months if kept frozen. These are quite rich, but I still think they go well with vanilla ice cream. Just saying. Enjoy!