PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE BARS

There must be a zillion food blogs on the internet these days. Trying to find consistently entertaining AND informative blogs of any sort is a challenge. One of the better food blogs out there is one written by David Lebovitz. (There’s a link to his blog in the left Hand column) I like David because he likes chocolate and because he’s not a food snob.

David’s decided to focus on chocolate this month and has invited his readers to submit recipes using chocolate. The only requirement is that you note the brand of chocolate you used, and why.

Of course the first inclination is to show off, to make something fancy, something showy, something that’s just as much a work of art for the eyes as it is for the palate. But that’s not me. I’m not a chef, I’m a cook. A good cook, yes, but I’ve never been formally trained, never learned the tricks and techniques of the fancy pastry chefs, so why pretend?

Additionally, I wanted to make something that the average person could easily make at home. Something that’s yummy, but simple to put together. I wanted to try a fantastic brownie recipe featured in the cookbook of our friend Jack Roby called “I’m For Easy”, but when I discovered that I didn’t have any crème di cacao on hand, only chocolate liqueur, I looked for something else.

I finally settled on a bar cookie. It’s pretty simple, and uses ingredients that are readily available. With cholesterol-lowering oats, heart healthy dark chocolate, and eggs for protein, it’s almost a health food. Of course it also has sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, peanut butter and a stick of butter, but you know those things will only add to the yummy factor!

The original recipe called for semi-sweet chocolate chips, and if I’d used them I would have gone with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. I love their creaminess. But because my supply of Ghirardelli chocolate chips in Italy is limited to how many bags I can cram into my suitcase, I decided to use something else....no point wasting the chips when the chocolate in this recipe gets melted down! I decided to use some of the Perugina chocolate I was given as a gift. Having a friend who works at the Perugina factory, located not far from us, is a definite bonus!

The chocolate I used was Nestlè Noir, 70%. It comes in thin 'leaves', and makes a great simple dessert, just place a few sheets on a plate, serve with an after dinner liqueur and savor. Maybe 70% is a little more bittersweet than semisweet, but the choice is yours. Play around with it, use semisweet, bittersweet, whatever you like. One of the things I like about the chocolates I find here in Italy is that normally they’re labeled by the percentage of chocolate rather than a general label of semisweet, bittersweet, etc.

Here’s the recipe:

PB&C Bars (Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars)

1 cup butter MINUS 2 Tbsp
1¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

½ cup peanut butter
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
12 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate pieces
1 cup chopped peanuts
2 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugars; beat until well mixed. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. In another large bowl stir together flour and baking soda; stir in oats. Gradually stir dry mixture into beaten mixture. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine the peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate pieces. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in peanuts and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Press two-thirds (about 3-1/3 cups) of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Spread chocolate mixture over the oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over the chocolate.

Bake in a 350º F oven about 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned (chocolate mixture will look moist). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into 2x1-inch bars. Makes about 75 bars.


Here's the finished product along with the box the chocolate came in.


These bars were NOT as decadently chocolatey as I expected. Perhaps the recipe needs more chocolate, or just something else to make the filling a little more gooey. Maybe it just needs a shorter baking time. I'll keep working on the recipe and report back...or you can take the basic recipe and experiment for yourself!

Addendum: Over the next two days, the chocolate flavor did seem to be more pronounced. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, as this is to be expected with dark choclate. If you plan to make anything with dark chocolate, I definitely recommend making it very early in the morning if you're planning to have it for dinner, or better, yet, make it the day before and keep things simple. Also, fo r this recipe, maybe just a bit more chocolate next time...14-16 ounces instead of 12. Of course this might make the bars a bit gooier and more difficult to handle, but it just might be worth it!