Peanut Butter Bars

This is embarrassingly old (from July), but an easy and delicious dessert recipe to try. I was being a major complainer at work and told my friends I would make them whatever they wanted, and this was their choice. Pretty good deal for me - was really easy and doesn't require the oven, which was great for the summertime! I think these kind of taste like Nutter Butters, but better, and VERY rich!


1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons peanut butter

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Original recipe here

Shout-out for gluten free cookies

 

I like to find any excuse possible to bake, and lately that has mostly been for work meetings (you may think this is sad, but we have a pretty cohesive group working on Data Management for the BP oil spill, and we have fun). This past week we had the developers of our web site visiting, so of course I had to impress them with my baking skills. Per usual, I hit up http://www.tastespotting.com/, and found an easy recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies. I couldn't believe how easy these were, so they made for a fun after-work project. I doubled the recipe and used a whole can of peanut butter (which was a little less than 2 cups), but they turned out deliciously. 

2 cups peanut butter
1 1/3 cup sugar, plus extra for rolling
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
Chocolate, for drizzling (I used chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter and sugar. It is much easier to do it by hand than to use a machine; just use a tough spatula. Mix in the baking powder and egg until evenly combined.

Form small balls and roll cookie dough in extra sugar. Place evenly on an ungreased baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 5-10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will be very fragile and need to harden before they can be moved. Drizzle with chocolate, if desired.