Category: Bars

Jul132012

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

This week I’ve made it my mission to not turn the oven on at all, and so far, so good. However, Wednesday night was posing a problem since it’s dessert night, and the kids would not let me get away with “just have a popsicle” for one more week.

So I went digging through my food board on Pinterest and followed a few links around until I came across a recipe for No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars.

The thing is, the blog that has these posted didn’t credit where they came from originally, which was AllRecipes (it wasn’t that hard to find, and I knew I’d seen it before). So I’m just going to link to it on AllRecipes and keep my opinions about copying recipes but not crediting to myself 😉

These were really easy to make and I didn’t even have to turn on the stove for any of it. I melted the butter in the microwave, and melted the chocolate and peanut there, too.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I also didn’t bother with the separate layer of peanut butter, mostly because I didn’t read ahead and mixed it all up with the chocolate chips. It didn’t seem to hurt it, though.

It does need to sit for an hour in the fridge so make sure you give yourself time, and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before trying to cut it.

These aren’t as good as other peanut butter bars I’ve had (they’re kind of texture-less), but they’re great for not having to heat up the kitchen!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
adapted from AllRecipes

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used about 15 sheets)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

May162012

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I came across these Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars on Pinterest when my friend Candi pinned them. I clicked over to the recipe and was happy to discover that I had all the ingredients that I needed, and hey! it was dessert night (which I admittedly hadn’t thought about ahead of time).

I used to like the Quaker granola bars you can buy at the grocery store, but I don’t buy them often because there’s a lot of junk packed into such a small bar, and I usually write it off to just not being worth it.

And though these aren’t health food either, I like them because they’re sweet but there’s not a lot of sugar, and they were nice and easy to make (even though they have to sit for a while, it’s worth it). Older kids could easily make these with minimal help.

Mike and the girls (and me) loved these!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
from Farmgirl Gourmet

2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl add the crispy rice and oats and mix to combine. Set aside.

In a small saucepan add the honey, brown sugar and butter and bring to a simmer. Heat for 3 minutes until it becomes syrupy and remove from heat. Add the vanilla and pour over the rice and oat mixture. Stir well to coat and pour into the prepared baking pan. Lay a piece of parchment over the pan and press the oat mixture down. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and press down again.

Bake at 200 for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to remain in the oven for 2 hours. Invert onto a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

May12012

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is Hungarian Shortbread, and is hosted by Lynette and Cher.

I didn’t get any in-progress pictures because we were out for most of the day yesterday, and by the time I finally got busy in the kitchen it was getting too dark. But this has definitely been one of the easiest treats we’ve made so far, and I will definitely be making it again!

I loved the technique of chilling the dough and then grating it into the pan, though I cheated and used my food processor. I also baked the bottom crust by itself for about 15 minutes, since a lot of people commented on it not being quite done when it was all baked together.

I hate rhubarb (I know, I’ve been told how awful I am) so I used blackberry jam instead, and I really can’t imagine this being any more delicious with anything else.

We had this for dessert and it was a huge hit, probably bigger than anything else I’ve made for TWD!