peanut butter, sustain me ::::
With the holidays approaching, there is a onslaught of cookie making in our circles: there are the hard sugar cookies like canvases on which to paint royal icing, sturdy ginger (gingerbread or not), stained glass Linzer, something minty, something chocolate, something cinnamony (nut-hugging cinnamon bear cookies are adorable!), something embossed-flaky-iced-soft-crispy-sticky-powdery-etc and …. It never ends.
Although these are not holiday cookies per se, they are hefty enough to share that way. As you monopolize the oven with the other cookies you bake, these chocolate peanut butter bars are no-bake and little hands-on. If you miss lunch because you are busy baking, these are also an acceptable stand-in for a protein bar. Peanut butter reigns.
Have a great holiday as I quarantine myself into a corner and study for my recertification exam for my medical speciality (PM&R). Boooooooooo! Chocolate and peanut butter are excellent choices for nourishment while distracted away from food as I study for this high-stakes exam that suuuuuuucks.
If you want more ideas on great cookie recipes, click on the Recipe Index tab at the top of the home page, then find Desserts and its Cookies subheading. Lots of ideas! I hope to get back to my macaron making and sugar cookie canvases when exams are far and away from my mind!
One year ago: turkey congee
Two years ago: the kitchenista’s best buttermilk biscuits and tricolor macarons with blueberry ganache
Three years ago: spice cake with orange swiss buttercream and rose tea
Four years ago: lemongrass-basil sherbet and sour cream cinnamon pie and beer bread (non-yeasted)
Five years ago: creamy lime oatmeal bars and orange cauliflower soup and giant ginger cookies
Six years ago: baked polenta and homemade sweet and sour cocktail mix and amaretto apple sours and homemade sugar cubes
Seven years ago: sparkling cranberries with cardamom and lemon pudding and fuyu persimmon, pomegranate, and apple fruit salad and homemade root beer syrup and green tomato salsa and soetkoekies
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- handful of chopped unsalted or salted peanuts (for the peanut butter layer and for the chocolate topper)
- salt (optional)
- Stir together melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, ½ cup peanut butter. Press into 9x9-inch pan. Chill while working on next step.
- Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter slowly (microwave in intervals of 20 to 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each time until all melted). Spread this on the chilled peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. A tiny bit of salt sprinkled on top is also good if you use unsalted peanuts. I prefer unsalted peanuts and adding salt so I can control how much saltiness there is.
- Chill for at least one hour before cutting into squares and serving. Store in the fridge.
