Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

I had a pretty rough week, where I felt like everything I did in lab was a failure and I was overwhelmed by grad school in general. I was very disgruntled and angsty, which was no fun, but the good news is that it inspired me to try out this recipe for peanut butter crispy bars. I know it might sound a little nuts, but peanut butter and chocolate somehow make me feel better when things aren’t going my way! This recipe was passed along to me by one of my professors who hosts a dessert night during our recruiting weekends. I always love to go eat her delicious homemade desserts, and after trying these peanut butter bars, I basically cornered her and demanded the recipe! These bars are super rich, they’re more like candy than anything! The recipe below is also a double recipe, so cut it in half if you don’t want to make that many. I made an excess so I could save some at home and bring most of them to lab to share with my similarly disgruntled lab-mates. I think it made the week just a little bit better, and a little bit can go a long way when you’re living the grad life! I also realize that this recipe calls for a lot of butter, which, if you’ll remember, is an ingredient that I don’t particularly like. However you don’t really notice it in the bars, so we can consider this recipe a bit of butter-phobia exposure therapy.

Ingredients

Crispy crust:

• 3 and 1/2 cups rice krispies
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 T light corn syrup
• 6 T unsalted butter, melted

Milk chocolate peanut butter layer:

• 10 oz good quality milk chocolate
• 2 cups creamy peanut butter (roughly 1 jar)

Dark chocolate icing:

• 6 oz dark chocolate (60 to 70% cacao)
• 1 tsp light corn syrup
• 8 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter

Instructions

Crispy crust: Start by greasing two 8-inch square baking pans, or one larger pan. Pour the rice krispies into a large bowl and set aside. Pour 1/2 cup water into a small saucepan. Gently add the sugar and corn syrup, without letting either get onto the side of the pan. Use a small wooden spoon to stir the mixture until combined. Put a candy thermometer into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then cook until it reaches 235 degrees F. The mixture turns from clear to yellowish at this point. Remove from heat, and stir in the melted butter. Pour over the cereal, and stir until thoroughly coated. Pour candied cereal into prepared pans, and use your hands to press it into the bottom of the pan. Let the crust cool to room temp while making the next layer.

Milk chocolate peanut butter layer: In a large glass bowl, add together the milk chocolate and the peanut butter. I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, but just make sure you use something that’s decent quality, otherwise it’s really not worth the effort! Make a double boiler by simmering about 1 inch of water in a large pot, and then resting the glass bowl on top of the pot to trap the steam beneath. This process allows you to gently melt chocolate, so there’s no chance of scorching it. Stir chocolate-peanut butter mixture with a rubber spatula and cook until it’s completely smooth. Remove bowl from heat and stir for about 30 seconds while cooling slightly. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust. Put the pans in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the top layer hardens.

Dark chocolate icing: In a large glass bowl, combine the dark chocolate, corn syrup, and butter. I used about 4 oz of Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate and 2 oz of 100% cacao unsweetened chocolate, because I like dark chocolate to be super intense!  Similarly use the double boiler to make this icing. Let everything melt together until it’s completely smooth, remove from heat and stir 3o seconds while cooling, then pour over the chilled milk chocolate peanut butter layer, and spread it into an even layer. Put the pan in the refrigerator to cool at least 1 hour, then cut into squares and serve!