Wednesday, September 2, 2009

PEANUTTY PEANUT BUTTER-CHOCOLATE BARS

The next time you're in a peanut butter-chocolate mood, try these bars. They're fudgy, chewy and a little gooey and you won'tbe disappointed. The original recipe is from Taste of Home, titled "peanut butter cake bars." The photo looked good, but I didn't want a cakey bar. I wanted a chewy, gooey bar, and I wanted peanuts as well as peanut butter. So I made changes to ensure that I would get what I wanted.
First I added a bit of molasses to the sugar; next, I subbed white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose; I added 1-1/2 cups of chopped salted peanuts and subbed 5 oz. of peanut butter chips for the milk chocolate chips. Lastly, I added 1/2 cup of Hershey's syrup. And these bars are the bomb! Great flavor, great texture and worth making.

If you want to make them less harmful, sub Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend for the butter; sub stevia (or sugar substitute of choice) for part or all of the sugar; use whole wheat, white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Peanutty Peanut Butter-Chocolate Bars
Adapted from Taste of Home/Charlotte Ennis, Lake Arthur, NM
Rating: 9 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Jif)
2 cups sugar + 2 tsp. molasses
4 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/2 cups chopped salted peanuts
5 oz. peanut butter chips
5 oz. milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and molasses till smooth, using medium-low speed of mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanuts and chips. Spread into greased pan. Spoon syrup over top of batter; cut in with knife or spatula and swirl. Bake 45-50 minutes, or till toothpick inserted near center returns almost clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield will depend on size of bars. You should get about 2 dozen.







13 comments:

Trish said...

Oh my...these dooooo look good...great shots too

chow and chatter said...

http://www.alaskaharvest.com/blog/seafood-recipes/pumpkin-crab-soup.html

heres your recipe, thanks again

Rebecca

Lyndas recipe box said...

These do look so gooey and delicious! I'll try these next time I want something decadent!

Unknown said...

those look so good. i love the healthy alternative options.

Valerie Gamine said...

Whoaa! Judy these look dangerous! And I want them as harmful as possible. :)

Debbie said...

Oh my oh my, these look awesome. Wish I had one right now!

Janice said...

These look just 'tooooo' good. I have some peanut butter left from the cake I made for my DH's birthday, I might just have to use it up making these :)

Coleens Recipes said...

These look dangerously delicious!!

teresa said...

mmmmm, i could eat a whole pan of these!

Reeni said...

What decadent treats these are Judy! So scrumptious! Your changes are great!

Marge said...

These look soooo good!!! Thanks for the recipe.

Claire Mercado-Obias said...

To die for! =)

Katrina said...

Whoa, those do look heavenly!