Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

This is by far one of my favorite dessert recipes; it’s one I come back to again and again, the kind I don’t need to look at the recipe anymore to know how to make.

Chocolate and peanut butter is already an established pair, so you don’t really need to do much to doctor or dress these up to make them a crowd favorite. Just a smooth layer of sweet peanut butter covered by a soft chocolate ganache is plenty impressive enough. Β Β 

The best part about this recipe is that it doesn’t need anything more than 4 ingredients that should always be in your pantry. If you want to elevate the flavor without much work, try using a special peanut butter like roasted honey or even almond butter.Β 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars(adapted from Oh Baby Bars)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 servings):

  • 3/4 cup peanut butter, runny or no-stir
  • 7 Tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 10oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, melt 6 tablespoons of butter along with the peanut butter until completely liquid.
  2. Add the powdered sugar into the peanut butter and butter mixture and beat until completely incorporated. Press the peanut butter mixture into a loaf pan or a 9 x 9 pan for smaller portions.
  3. Melt the chocolate chips and remaining tablespoon of butter together and mix. Pour this over the peanut butter layer.
  4. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set. Cut at room temperature into 1 x 1 square servings.

Totally worth the effort.

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29 Responses to Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
  1. VeggieGirl
    July 26, 2011 | 9:07 am

    Evan, these bars look amazing. As usual. Your posts are too tempting! πŸ™‚

  2. Victoria (District Chocoholic)
    July 26, 2011 | 9:13 am

    Posting these things before 9:30 am should be illegal. Excuse me while I go melt some chocolate, stir in some peanut butter, and eat it with a spoon. For breakfast

  3. Nourhan @ Miss Anthropist's Kitchen
    July 26, 2011 | 9:21 am

    Man that looks SO good! I’m such a sucker for anything chocolate and peanut butter.
    (Also, your pictures have majorly improved–loving them!)

  4. MarathonVal
    July 26, 2011 | 9:22 am

    Great minds think alike… I’ve been on a peanut butter and chocolate kick this week! Everything I’ve made seems to be PB and choc these days, which of course is an amazing thing.

    Those look incredible!!

  5. claire
    July 26, 2011 | 9:52 am

    Holy DELICIOUS batman. I need that recipe.

  6. Leanne @ Healthful Pursuit
    July 26, 2011 | 9:53 am

    uh ya, I’d say it was worth it too. These look SO good!

  7. christina
    July 26, 2011 | 9:58 am

    omg my friend and i were DYING over something very similar to this at a froyo place last weekend. delicious!

  8. Kathleen @ Kat's Health Corner
    July 26, 2011 | 10:22 am

    Oh YUM!

  9. Lauren
    July 26, 2011 | 3:20 pm

    One word: YUM!

  10. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga
    July 26, 2011 | 3:58 pm

    Evan they look great! I’ve made tons of PB type bars in my day. Most recently with Nutella mixes in with the PB, too. And a graham cracker base w/ choc frosting. I love that yours are JUST pb and sugar. And butter and chocolate. Simplicity is best πŸ™‚

  11. Ela
    July 26, 2011 | 7:23 pm

    Beautiful swirl on top of the chocolate at the end–did that take lots of practice, or did it just turn out perfect first time?

    Simple, short ingredient list is always a bonus, and the peanut-butter/chocolate-loving folks I fix for love things like that…

    Great job on ‘cutting back’ on dessert but still allowing yourself the pleasure.

    • Wannabe Chef
      July 26, 2011 | 7:24 pm

      Thanks, I just ran the edge of a spatula along the top to give it a little texture.

  12. Kristina @ spabettie
    July 26, 2011 | 8:40 pm

    I’ll trade you these for the ny cheesecake.

  13. Errign
    July 26, 2011 | 9:05 pm

    I want! Hehe, these look awesome. Guess I’ll go pull one of a chocolate peanut butter macaroon from your recipe out of my freezer and that’ll do. πŸ˜€

  14. Steph@stephsbitebybites
    August 2, 2011 | 12:41 pm

    You can’t be serious with this! I swear I just died πŸ™‚ YUMMY

  15. The Chocolate Priestess
    August 3, 2011 | 9:51 am

    My mother had a recipes like these that I need to share with everyone at some point.

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  17. holly
    August 8, 2011 | 11:10 am

    hahaha…cutting back to once a day…i like your style! and i love these bars – my mom made ones like these growing up all the time. SO good!

  18. Liz Gossom
    August 19, 2011 | 12:42 pm

    I am not ashamed to say I totally searched Pinterest for a recipe exactly like this. Except I don’t have any chocolate chips, but I do have a barely used can of chocolate frosting. No one will ever know the difference, since I don’t intend to share. πŸ™‚

  19. Erika
    September 9, 2011 | 6:41 pm

    I used sunbutter (peanut allergy) and pressed them into mini muffin pans, they were perfect. Next time I’ll try almond butter.

  20. Paige @ Running Around Normal
    September 19, 2011 | 8:37 pm

    omg…thank goodness this recipe was featured under popular recipes on a night I’m reading! I must make this come holiday season!

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  23. Sunnie@ModernGirlNutrition
    January 27, 2013 | 10:58 pm

    SO happy I found your website! Your recipes sound ridiculously good and I love your photography!:)

  24. RebelBakery
    May 10, 2013 | 8:09 pm

    Very good. Thanks!!

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