Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Happy New Year, friends! I can't ring in the new year without paying homage to my mother's plethora of Christmas cookies with this long-time member of the gang: Chocolate Peanut Butter bars. Another quick and easy treat that's difficult to stop eating! The peanut butter makes this a little less sweet than other bars, and who can argue with the chocolate-PB combo?



Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

18 oz. creamy peanut butter
3/4 C butter, room temperature
1 lb. graham cracker crumbs
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 C (12 oz.) chocolate chips

Cream the butter and peanut butter with a stand mixer (very difficult to do with a hand mixer or by hand once you add the dry ingredients in!).

Add the graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar, mix in well. Press firmly into a 9"x13" pan.

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl, stirring between 30-second bursts in the microwave. Be careful to not burn the chocolate; stir well each time and distribute the heat before deciding to microwave again. Should only take 2, maybe 3, turns in the microwave.

Pour the melted chocolate over the mixture pressed into the pan, and mark off the squares by running a knife through the chocolate layer. In the photos above, the squares are not cut all the way through yet - the chocolate was just marked off before it hardened. This makes it much easier to cut clean squares once the chocolate has solidified.

Refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight, and cut squares when you're ready to serve them. You can make this well ahead of time, and it will keep for a few weeks.