No bake peanut butter bars

Four-ingredient, no bake peanut butter bars. Could a dessert get any easier?

If you ask me (and if you didn’t ask me, imma tell you anyway), the best desserts are ones with peanut butter and chocolate. There’s something about that combination that’s just magical. There’s a reason Reese’s is so popular, right?

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I’m always on the lookout for new peanut butter dessert recipes. (and I subject my family members to the results of my experiments, he he he) (I wonder if that’s considered cruel and unusual punishment) (jk usually it’s not so bad) (Except recently I made a peanut butter cookie chocolate brownie, which I actually thought was pretty good, but my husband said was the worst thing he ever tasted) (isn’t he a charmer)

Ahem. Back to peanut butter desserts and no bake peanut butter bars. I was really excited when I found this recipe, but let me insert the no bake peanut butter bars recipe first, and then discuss why later.

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

Recipe source: https://cakewhiz.com/no-bake-peanut-butter-bars-recipe/comment-page-2/#comments

Peanut butter layer:
• 2 cups Peanut butter Unsalted creamy
• ½ cup Honey
• ¾ cup oat flour
• 1 Packet collagen peptides

Chocolate layer:
• 2 cups Dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup Peanut butter Unsalted creamy

INSTRUCTIONS
Check out Cake Whiz for exact instructions!

Now, my thoughts on the no bake peanut butter bars recipe

First: the blog post this recipe was taken from was sponsored by a protein powder company, hence the “1 packet collagen peptides” in the ingredient list. It doesn’t actually affect the taste of the finished product, so I left it out.

Next: why was I excited when I found this recipe? Because most copycat Reese’s recipes call for crushed graham crackers in the peanut butter mixture. I could never figure out why. Reese’s aren’t crunchy and don’t have graham cracker crumbs in them, so why would I put crumbs in my copycat version?

Another reason I was excited: this is a no mixer dessert. And my mixer decided to give out on me right when I decided that I would be starting a food blog. Talk about perfect timing… Anyway, I had no mixer, and so many dessert recipes start with “cream together butter and sugar.” So I was quite excited that this is a no mixer recipe.

On to the actual recipe. The recipe writer suggests putting oats in the blender for a few seconds to process into oat flour if necessary. I’ve seen this recommended before, but never actually tried it, always opting to either sub regular flour for the oat flour or just use quick cooking oats directly without processing them.

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But this time, I decided to be all food-bloggery and stuff, and actually try to make the oat flour. And lo and behold, it worked. It was really quick and easy, too. I would do it again when necessary.

(probably. Unless I decide I don’t want to use the blender, because then I have to wash it after.)
(What? I’m lazy, ok?)

Next. I realized after I already decided to make this recipe that 3 cups of peanut butter is a whole lot of peanut butter, and I couldn’t finish all the peanut butter we have because then my kids would have nothing to take to school for lunch.

(I mean, I guess they could take peanut butter bars to school for lunch. But then I might be getting a visit from child services or something. So we won’t be doing that.)

I decided to cut the peanut butter a bit. I can’t recall exactly how much peanut butter I used in the base
#BestFoodBloggerEver
But I mixed some pb and honey and oat flour together till it seemed firm enough to be a base for a no bake peanut butter bar, and then I pressed it into a pan.

Same story for the topping. 1 cup peanut butter + 2 cups chocolate chips makes for a very thick chocolate layer. I just dumped a bunch of choc chips and a few scoops of peanut butter into my microwave safe silicone measuring cup (which is awesome and you should totally get, btw. It’s really convenient.)

I microwaved it for a minute or two, mixed it up, and then spread it over the peanut butter layer.

Now came the hard part. The waiting. (insert jeopardy theme music here)

And now, the moment of truth: do these no bake peanut butter bars taste like Reese’s?

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to say no. They were good, but not amazing. I don’t think it’s because I cut the peanut butter, because there was still an intense peanut butter taste. It was just… not as good as a Reese’s. Which makes sense. If it was that easy to copy, then everyone would do it, and Hersheys’ sales would plummet, and they would go bankrupt, and Hershey Park would close down, and Pennsylvania’s economy would be destroyed, leading to national bankruptcy and eventual global collapse. So I guess it’s a good thing that my no bake peanut butter bars didn’t come out so good.

Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. The no bake peanut butter bars were pretty good (not amazing, but pretty good). My seven-year-old saw the pan in the fridge and helped himself to a piece, and then said, “Mommy, what’s that cake in the fridge? It’s so good!!” So it has his approval.

Recipe Grade: A-

Take Care!
-B

Check out some other dessert recipes:
Chocolate chip cookies for two
Double peanut butter sandwich cookies
Peanut butter glazed peanut butter chocolate chip bundt cake
Homemade cinnamon buns

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