Exactly 9 days post-New Year’s my aforementioned aversion to sweets disappeared like a puff of smoke. The holiday sugar cloud has lifted and I am ready to dive into butter, chocolate, sugar and, of course… peanut butter! These peanut butter cup bars are nothing new to the blogosphere, but I am thrilled to finally have them back in my kitchen. I had my first encounter with these bars waaaaaay back in college. I was at a cookout/bonfire and a girl brought a pan of these. I’ve been a peanut butter fanatic pretty much since I uttered my first words, so needless to say I fell in love with these immediately. As soon as I wiped the peanut butter and chocolate crumbs off my mouth, I asked for the recipe. I got it, and then promptly lost it before I ever got a chance to make them. I have lived without these for way too many years, so I must make amends. And share with you of course.
I was the kid on Halloween that dug through the candy to get to the Reese’s peanut butter cups. They were gold. On Easter, I was always thrilled when the bunny left a Reese’s peanut butter egg or, as I got older and more appreciative of good sweets, a Sarris peanut butter meltaway egg. So imagine how insanely excited I am that these taste just like a giant peanut butter cup. I could get even more authentic with a thicker layer of chocolate, or actually encasing a cup-shaped version in chocolate, but this recipe is super easy and darn-near perfect. If it ain’t broke…
Three years ago: Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte
Peanut Butter Cup Bars
Yield: 16 bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Chill Time: 30 minutes
½ cup unsalted butter
1¾ cups powdered sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup milk chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)1. Line an 8×8-inch square pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides, then butter the foil. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the ½ cup of butter over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs until completely combined and smooth. Spread the peanut butter mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
3. In the now-empty saucepan, melt the ¼ cup unsalted butter. Add the chocolate and stir until almost completely melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until completely melted. Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter layer and smooth into an even layer.
4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set. Remove from the pan using the foil overhangs and place on a cutting board. Use a pizza cutter to slice into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
(Recipe adapted from Stylish Cuisine)
Tags: Bar Desserts, Chocolate, Peanut Butter
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I made these over the weekend and they were incredible!! Thanks again for another amazing recipe!
Hi Michelle,
I am planning on making these for Easter. I was thinking of taking the peanut butter mixture and forming them into oval or “egg” shapes and then refrigerating for a little while to firm up and then dipping them in chocolate. So I have 2 questions:
1.) Do you think this peanut butter mixture will be ok to do this?
2.) Would you recommend using the same chocolate/butter in this recipe to coat them or should I use your recipe using chocolate and shortening?
Thanks for your help!
Kristin
Hi Kristin,
Love the idea of the peanut butter eggs! I think I would recommend the peanut butter mixture that I use for buckeyes (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2007/12/18/christmas-baking-buckeyes/) only because I have experience rolling and shaping it, and I haven’t tried that with this filling. I would definitely use the chocolate and shortening mixture to coat. Enjoy!
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for the quick response as I did make these last night. I actually just made them according to your recipe but used the chocolate / shortening to pour on top. I just preferred having a thicker chocolate top. I cut them this morning in the shape of eggs and they came out looking really cute. They are wrapped up good in the freezer now and then on Sunday, I am planning on serving them in my deviled eggs platter and bringing them to Long Island!
I did have to taste test them, (of course) and they are amazing!
Thanks again, Happy Easter!
Kristin
I LOVE these. I use a milk chocolate/80% dark chocolate mix for the topping. Way better than a reese’s and totally addicting. I made them twice in one week!
They complete me.
Made these in a 9×9 pan, didn’t do the foil, but probably should have. They stuck a little. I used semi sweet chips and did about 1 1/2 batches of the chocolate part as 1 didn’t seem like enough to cover adequately. They were delicious and everyone loved them! Thanks much! Will make again!
This is the best and easiest dessert – it is my go-to recipe for any party or get-together. I’ve made them at least 6 times in the last few months and they’ve been a huge hit every time!
I found your recipe via Pinterest and finally got around to making these. They were tasty. I shared the link to them in my blog. I look forward to spending more time here browsing your recipes. Thanks and have a wonderful day!
http://craftsparklepop.blogspot.com/2011/08/recipe-peanut-butter-cup-bars.html
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try to make them. To my (pleasant) surprise they turned out just like yours did in the picture! I did notice that once they were out of the fridge (they chilled overnight) they started melting/getting very soft almost immediately. I was thinking of adding more graham cracker crumbs to make it more solid. Any suggestions? Thank you
Hi Emily, Were they at room temperature (68-72 degrees)? Or was it significantly warmer in your house? They should not melt at room temperature if they came right out of the refrigerator after chilling overnight. I would hesitate to add more graham crumbs, as it could make the filling dry and crumbly.
I am a HUGE peanut butter/chocolate fan! These are some of the best! Making them again!! Love your recipes!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I made these last night and I’m in heaven! I don’t eat chocolate so I made these with the peanut butter chips and it made them so rich and divine. Yum, yum, yum and thank you!
These are so yummi and such an easy, basic, no-bake recipe! Too good to be true (:
Mine turned out horrible. Followed the recipe exactly, but didn’t finish. Once i took the pot of butter off the heat I tried stirring in the powdered suagr and it just went clumpy. the peanutbutter and graham crackers didnt help make it “smooth.” I didn’t bother doing the chocolate on top, the whole things looked sloppy. I just feel very dissapointed this site usually has trust-worthy recipes =(
u have to crush the grahm crackers really fine, and waht i did when my butter got clumpy, i turned on the heat while i was stirring in the peanut butter and grahm crackers. Hope this helps!
Hi I am GF and this is ALMOST GF except for the graham cracker crumbs…any chance I can use something else there? Almond flour ??
Hi Samantha, I am not very familiar with gluten free ingredients, but I would say anything that you can crush and is fairly coarse, you could use. It helps to give some substance to the filling.
I made these with my son today. We used 54% (semisweet) bakers chocolate instead of the chocolate chips. They are quite tasty and will not end up lasting long in our house. I also like the fact that these do not require the use of the oven. They will be great for summer.
THESE r AMAZING! theyre soooo easy and qiuck to make! while my husband was making dinner, i whipped these babies! SO DELICIOS! i had all the ingrediants on hand! MY hubby loved em!
I was browsing one of your top 10 lists and ended up here, wondering why I haven’t made these yet. =) I have a similar recipe that a friend of a friend made up and I’ve used it often (but years ago), so I’ll have to try yours and compare.
I noticed some comments about whether these are salty enough, and just wanted to add my two cents–that Reese’s cups seem QUITE salty to me, and in fact sometimes I don’t like them for that reason. Depends on my mood or my taste buds at the time, I guess. Once about 20 years ago I was working in an office, very bored, and had access to a huge bin of Reese’s miniatures…and, well…I don’t want to guess or confess how many I ate in a day. I think I did it for several days, and after that, Reese’s have never had QUITE the same attraction, though I still will choose those first out of any candy bowl. However, it was sometime during that orgy that I noticed how salty they are! I probably WAY exceeded my RDA for sodium those days.
All of that to say, I think salted butter would produce a more authentic product and that’s what I’ll use (we normally don’t have anything else in the house, anyway).
Oh my is all I can say! Made these today and I will never need to buy another Reese’s peanut butter cup again! Easy and awesome!!!!
Can I use oil instead of butter in this recipe? What about semi-sweet dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate?
Hi Gloria, I would not substitute oil for the butter, but you could definitely use semisweet dark chocolate chips instead of milk.
These are so so so so yummy!!!
These are so amazing!!! Thanks for yet another super yummy recipe!
These were amazing!!!
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