Reese's Bars

Dear The Foodie RD followers,
Sadly, the hot weather is back.  Although it's hard to complain too much about 90 degrees when last summer it was over 100 degrees for the whole summer, it is still hot enough that I am back to my oven boycott.  So it's back to good ol' no bake desserts for me.  Oh well.

As much as I love a good chocolate chip cookie hot out of the oven, I have a bunch of yummy no bake dessert recipes that have more than satisfied my sweet tooth.  An added bonus of many of these no bake recipes is that they are are even easier than their baked counterparts.  And this one is definitely falls into this category.  As if it couldn't get better, this recipe copycats that delicious flavor combination of chocolate and peanut butter you would find in one of the world's greatest candies, Reese's.

Reese's are by far my husband's favorite candy.  He adores them.  But because I love to bake, he rarely gets to indulge on his old favorites like that.  We don't buy sweets around here.  I make them!  So when I started seeing recipes for Reese's bars, I knew I had to try it out.

This wasn't my first attempt.  The first recipe I tried had a filling of crushed graham crackers and peanut butter.  It was good, but it wasn't a Reese's.  Not wanting to settle on a less than perfect Reese's bar recipe, I found another recipe that seemed worth another shot.  And this one was right on the money!

There were no graham crackers in this recipe, just peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  It turned out perfectly peanut buttery, creamy, sweet, and delicious. And then there was a yummy chocolate topping.  Just like a Reese's.

My only suggestion to make this even more similar to a Reese's would be to add an additional layer of chocolate.  Reese's have two layers of chocolate.  Why shouldn't Reese's bars?  I didn't do it, but if you want to give it a shot (please, someone do it!) I would use twice as much chocolate and melt half of it first, and spread it on the bottom of your pan, then top with the peanut butter mixture, and finish with the called-for top chocolate layer.

But even with just one layer of chocolate, these Reese's bars were terrific.  They tasted so much like a Reese's it was borderline spooky.  But in a delicious peanut butter and chocolate way!

Reese's Bars
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups peanut butter
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
6 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate squares
Instructions
Mix peanut butter, butter, sugars and vanilla in a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes.
Put aluminum foil in an 11x13 pan and press the peanut butter mixture down in it evenly. Melt the
chocolate and spread it evenly over the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to set in the refrigerator
for about 10 minutes. Remove the dish, then remove the tin foil along with the bars and lay on a flat
surface. Cut into 36 bars and allow the chocolate to set completely.
Notes
You can store these in the fridge, freezer, or just in an airtight container at room temperature. Any way you
store them, they are delicious!

Recipe from Taste of Flizzy