Tuesday Dinners

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Why choose between chocolate and peanut butter when you can have both?

⏲️ Prep Time
15 Minutes

⏲️ Chill Time
2 Hours

🍴 Makes
16

Ingredients

  • 8 full sheets graham crackers
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 cup peanut butter (split into 3/4 and 1/4 cup)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Crush graham crackers and melt butter
  2. Mix together graham crackers, butter, powdered sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter until combined
  3. Melt and stir together remaining peanut butter and chocolate chips
  4. In dish spread graham cracker mixture to cover bottom of vessel, pour chocolate mixture over the top and spread evenly
  5. Freeze/refrigerate until chocolate is no longer melted/liquid

Step by Step Directions

Melt your butter in a microwave safe bowl. Add your powdered sugar and 75% of your peanut butter.

When it comes to the graham crackers it doesn’t really matter how you crush them, but they should be pretty small, some personal favorites:

  • Pit two children against each other, give them each 4 sheets and tell them the contest is to make them as fine as possible
  • Crush them in the packaging they came in and then just open and pour
  • Throw them in a bag and get out some pent up agression
  • Throw it in a food processor
  • Pit a child against an adult, give them each 4 sheets and tell them the contest is to make them as fine as possible

Stir everything together until it gains a smooth consistency. If it’s not as smooth as you would like feel free to add some more peanut butter, if it’s too “gritty” crush the graham crackers some more, if it’s not thick enough than add some more powdered sugar or graham crackers.

In a microwave safe dish (or in a pan on the stove) combine your remaining peanut butter and chocolate chips.

I found 30 seconds in the microwave, a vigorous stir and then an additional 15 seconds in the microwave and then another vigorous stir got me the consistency I was looking for.

Spread your graham cracker mixture across the bottom of a dish. I made a slight mistake and chose too large of a dish, but sometimes that’s life. It’s still going to taste good. Just make sure that the entire bottom of whatever dish you choose is covered.

*Extra credit/additional step: You can bake your base/crust for a little while if you want and create a quasi-pie crust. How long to cook it will vary based on the size dish you choose and how crisp you want your crust.

Take your melted chocolate mixture and spread it over the top of your base. Use whatever utensil you used to mix the chocolate chips and spread the topping evenly over you base.

The bars are edible at this point if you’re ravenous and have a spoon (or your bare hands). But if you want to firm everything up a little bit I would recommend throwing it in the freezer or refrigerator for a couple of hours.

*Note about freezing chocolate: This could potentially create an effect called “chocolate bloom” where the water in the air/chocolate freezes at a different rate than the chocolate itself, which can cause discoloration and a pattern across your dessert. So if you are going to freeze this dessert than make sure it’s covered.

Enjoy.

Variations

  • Add some addition toppings to the chocolate mixture (cereal is a personal favorite)
  • Change the ratio of the main ingredients, you might want more chocolate, more crunch, etc.
  • Use a different base than graham crackers (wafers, cookies, cereal)

Unsolicited Feedback

  • ST: Why not just eat a Reeses?
  • NA: Can I use Nutella instead of peanut butter?
  • LK: I like to break it all up into little pieces and then just eat it like that.