Skip to main content

peanut butter bars

By

this is one of those recipes that i'm kind of ashamed of...and i'll tell you why.  growing up we were not school lunch eaters.  we packed home lunches most days.  in fact, i thought school lunch was so gross.  even the smell bothered me.  (definitely due to the fact that we grew up with a fantastic cook!  we were spoiled with good food!)  but there were certain days that i would trade my treat for the peanut butter bars made at my elementary school.  i loved them.  they were the perfect combination of peanutty-crunch and smooth chocolate frosting.  mmmm.  my cute old neighbor, suzanne, (ex neighbor? old neighbor? friend from my old neighborhood?) made some once and i was brought right back to being a kid sitting at the light turquoise benches in our old school lunchroom.  i have a great memory, so i can remember all sorts of things about those days.  some good and some bad.  but these puppies, they're all good.  i still make them and bite into them and am flooded with elementary memories.  and with a child turning 10 tomorrow, i need some excuses to feel less old.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup peanut butter
cream together, then add:
1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. flour
1 c. oats
mix until blended and spread into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  this part gets tricky because it doesn't look like there's enough batter to fill the entire dish.  use a non stick spreader and spread it all out even if it's thin.  they puff once they bake and turn into the perfect thickness!  bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-16 minutes or until edges are slightly golden brown.  do not overbake!

over cooled bars, spread
1/4 cup peanut butter

then frost with chocolate frosting:
1/4 cup softened butter
1 - 3 T cocoa
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
milk

(honestly, i rarely can wait until they're cooled enough to frost them!  so i spread out the peanut butter over pretty hot bars and then add some frosting.  it melts and oozes all over the place and we eat them so fast that no one even cares! <3)
Labels:

Comments

  1. Come What may ANd LOve IT2/5/11 8:43 PM

    OH MY HECK!! My mouth is watering soo bad right now!!!! :) where has this blog been all my life!!!! Thanks girlie!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Little Sass3/5/11 1:06 PM

    I have a perfect memory of those peanut butter bars. I would get school lunch on Thursday just to have those. I think it was Thursday. I am totally going to try these. (I might attempt to make them gluten free) Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sunday slow cooker: red beans and rice

By
in honor of mardi gras this year i made red beans and rice from scratch.  i am grateful to say that 6 years of my life took place in new orleans, la.  well, actually it was 5 years and 1 month + 11 months while we were displaced because of hurricane katrina, but we won't talk about that.  and during those 11 months in utah my heart was still in new orleans.  in case you're not familiar with new orleans, their claim to fame is FOOD.  and no ordinary food will do, no no no.  it must be GREAT FOOD.  and believe me, we had GREAT FOOD while we lived there.  and lots of it.   one of our favorite dishes was red beans and rice.  now that we don't live in new orleans, it's not as convenient to just run to the store and buy a can of already prepared Blue Runner beans.  so, i decided to come up with a recipe all on my own that used the slow cooker (it was sunday dinner and now with 1 o'clock church i'm using my slow cooke...
4 comments
Read more

heart cookies

By
got this recipe from martha for valentine's day.  it is a mix between an oatmeal cookie and a shortbread cookie and oh so yummy.  i'll be taking these to a preschool party and around to some of my friends tomorrow.  they are reminiscent of graham crackers and chocolate frosting, which my husband and kids love, so i'm hoping they enjoy these.  the dough turned out be a bit different than the recipe claims, but i made it work.  i've changed the recipe only slightly-i dipped the hearts in melted chocolate chips rather than sandwiching nutella between two cookies.   one great tip on melting chocolate is do it in the microwave!  it's so easy and you don't have to worry about a double-boiler and all that clean up.  ina garten, the barefoot contessa and one of my cooking idols, gives a great explanation on how to do it here .  i'm sure the nutella way would be good, too.  it's just not something i regularly have in my pan...
8 comments
Read more

white chicken chili

By
this is the chili of winners.  my friend made this last year for a halloween chili cook off and won the "most-unique" prize.  to me that means, "better-than-your-average-beef-and-bean chili" award.  it really is.  the original recipe comes from cha cha .  "who's cha cha" you ask? who knows.  but she's come up with a mighty fine white chicken chili recipe.  be sure to bake up some cornbread and serve it with the chili.  (i finally found my favorite cornbread recipe the other day and must share on another post!) i have posted my version of the recipe, with only a few adjustments to the spiciness.  happy chili cookin'! 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp fresh jalapeno, finely chopped 1 (4 oz) can chopped green chile peppers 2 tsp ground cumin ...
3 comments
Read more