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Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

Oatmeal peanut butter bars that will make the lunch lady jealous. Chewy bars full of peanut butter and topped with layers of more peanut butter and a chocolate grenache.
Course Brunch, cookies, picnic
Cuisine American
Keyword bar cookies, chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter, peanut butter bars
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
cooling 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

cookie base

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup butter softened
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/3 cups old fashioned oats

For topping the bars:

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 cups chocolate chips or 12 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
  • ½ cup cream
  • 1 cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts

Instructions

To make the cookie base

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°
  2. Line a rimmed half cookie sheet (13x18x1) with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.
  3. Combine In a bowl the baking powder, salt, flour, and old-fashioned oats, set aside.
  4. In the bowl of your mixer or a large mixing bowl, mix together the peanut butter and butter.
  5. Add in the sugar and brown sugar and cream together till smooth and light, about 5 minutes. If creaming by hand, use a large whisk and beat until light and fluffy.
  6. Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
  7. Add the oat flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
  8. Press the peanut butter base into the cookie sheet, spreading evenly to the edges. The dough is pretty sticky, so spray your hands or a rubber spatula with nonstick spray while you spread it.
  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-25 minutes until the middle is just barely set. Keep a close eye on it as you don’t want the base to overcook. It will continue to cook for a bit after removing the base from the oven.
  10. Allow the cookie base to cool for about 5 minutes, then drop peanut butter dollops over the top of the base.
  11. Allow to sit for about 1-2 minutes until the peanut butter starts to soften, then spread peanut butter evenly over the top.

To make the ganache.

  1. Heat the cream to just below boiling. You can do this in a microwave, but be careful. It will boil over very easily. You don’t want the cream too hot, or the ganache will split. (here’s a trick to fix it if it does: warm a little skim milk and whisk in a little bit at a time until the ganache blends together again.)
  2. Place the chopped chocolate or chips in a small bowl and pour the hot cream over the top.
  3. Let sit for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.
  4. Stir the ganache until smooth.
  5. Spread over the top of the cooled peanut butter base.
  6. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the ganache
  7. Let cool until the ganache has firmed up.
  8. Cut into 4” x 2” bars.

Recipe Notes

These addictive peanut butter bars will keep for a week in a sealed container if they last that long!