Peanut Butter Cookie Candy Bars
As promised, this week’s treats are shaped like squares: chocolate-y, caramel-y, peanut-butter-y squares of awesomeness, to be more specific.
My preference is to try to share recipes with you guys that I feel are, for the most part, my creation, or recipes to which I have made significant changes. However, sometimes I find an already amazing recipe that is just screaming “MAKE ME! MAKE ME NOW!” These bars are one of those recipes. And you need to know about them, like, yesterday.
I snagged this recipe from the Betty Crocker web site. And the only change I made was to use, with my apologies to Betty, Pillsbury Refrigerated Peanut Butter Cookie Dough instead of making the base from a BC Peanut Butter Cookie Mix.
Peanut Butter Cookie Candy Bars
Cookie Base
– 1pkg Pillsbury Peanut Butter Cookies Dough
Filling
– 1/3c light corn syrup
– 3T butter, softened
– 3T peanut butter
– 1 1/2T water
– 1 1/4t vanilla
– Dash salt
– 3 1/2c powdered sugar
Caramel Layer
– 1 bag (14 oz) caramels, unwrapped (Do things like this really need to be said?)
– 2T water
– 1 ½c lightly salted peanuts
Topping
– 1 bag milk chocolate chips (2 cups)
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch pan with non-stick foil. Press cookie dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2. Beat all filling ingredients, except powdered sugar, on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until well blended. Press filling over cookie base. Refrigerate while preparing caramel layer.
3. In saucepan, heat caramels and 2T water over low heat, stirring constantly, until caramels are melted. Stir in peanuts. Spread evenly over filling. Refrigerate about 15 minutes or until caramel layer is firm.
4. Melt chocolate chips. Spread evenly over caramel layer. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chocolate is set.
I had a bit of trouble cutting these. So here is what I would suggest: kind of score the chocolate layer and then quickly chop through the rest of the layers, so the peanut butter layer doesn’t squoosh out.
These. Are. Amazing. Make them. Make them now.
For more hip-to-be-square sweets, visit The Cereal Baker.
