Chocolate Peanut Butter Fantasies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fantasies - made November 13, 2022 from Golde's Homemade Cookies

Pastry

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup butter, softened

2 egg yolks, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup unsalted peanuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 12-ounce package chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine all pastry ingredients together in a large bowl and beat on low speed until crumbly. Press crumb mixture into an even layer in prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Set aside chocolate chips. In a medium bowl, combine remaining topping ingredients together.
4. Turn off oven and remove pan from oven; spread topping evenly over baked crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chips sand return to oven for 2 to 3 minutes until chocolate chips have softened enough to spread. Remove from oven and spread chocolate into an even layer. Let cool before cutting.

In honor of my niece's boyfriend, who served in the US Air Force, I made these peanut butter bars for him for a belated Veteran's Day lunch.

I'm still trying out recipes from Golde's Homemade Cookies and I thought this would fit the bill: shortbread base, peanut butter filling, chocolate topping. All good, right? Er, you know what I'm going to say next? Yup, these were okay.

Honestly, they weren't bad and my niece's boyfriend enjoyed them so I packed up the rest for them to put in their freezer so he could have it in future lunches once he starts his new job. All good. For me personally, with my picky taste buds, I would've preferred the shortbread base to actually be more like a shortbread with a more crisp crunch (it was soft, without much snap) and I'm still indifferent to peanut butter! Yeah, that's a me problem. But so far, this baking book still keeps delivering only on the "okay" side of the spectrum.