15 Sep Peanut Butter Bars

Some people love peanut butter, some people hate it. I fall into the love category, my hubby – the hate. This means I don’t make peanut butter flavoured goodies all that often. So when I do, I don’t hold back on the peanut butter. These yummy peanut butter bars are made with a whole jar of the stuff! That’s right, an entire jar. Apart from that, there are just a few ingredients, and the recipe is so quick and easy your kids could probably make them!

For those of you who have ever tried a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, you’ll know that peanut butter and chocolate are great friends. If you’re making these for your children, they’d probably prefer a sweeter milk chocolate topping. For a more grown-up treat, try them with dark chocolate. If you’re eternally indecisive like me, try half milk/ half dark.

Ingredients:
(Makes about 18)

200g unsalted butter (just less than 1 cup)
1 x 400g jar of smooth peanut butter (about 1 and 1/2 cups)
250g digestive biscuits (2 cups)
250g icing sugar (2 cups)
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g chocolate (dark, milk or a mixture of both)

Method:

• Melt the butter and stir in the peanut butter. Mix until smooth.
• Crush the digestive biscuits into crumbs using a food processor (or place in a zip-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin). I prefer to have a mixture of fine crumbs and small pieces of biscuit for added texture, but it’s up to you! how fine you want to go!
• Stir the icing sugar and vanilla extract into the peanut butter mixture, then stir in the digestive biscuit crumbs.
• Line a 20cm x 30 cm dish or baking tin with foil leaving a 4cm overhang on all sides (this will make it easier to remove from the dish later). Press the mixture evenly into the dish, then pop into the fridge.
• Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter mixture and tilt to cover the top evenly.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, then leave to soften a little at room temperature (about 10 minutes) before slicing into squares or bars. If you try to cut them straight out of the fridge the chocolate layer might crack.