“There’s nothing that a jar of peanut butter and a spoon can’t fix.”
Not sure who said that, but they clearly forgot the jar of Nutella…’cause, really, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of Nutella, a spoon along with an empty house…pretty much perfect, am I right?
Okay, that might be taking matters a bit too far but you have to admit, chocolate and peanut butter are certainly one of the most perfect matches out there!
These bars/nuggets are not really Nanaimo bars (the original nanaimo has custard powder in them) but the texture of the middle layer kinda reminds me of those luscious bars.
All you need here is a food processor and either a square baking pan or a mini-muffin pan. It’s pretty easy…just layer, layer, layer…
“It’s peanut butter jelly chocolate time”…
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/3 c butter, melted
1/2 pkg Oreo cookies
1/2 pkg peanut butter filled cookies (or you can use the whole pkg of Oreo cookies)
Filling:
1 c peanut butter
1/2 c cookie crumbs (you can use graham crumbs or whirl up whatever cookies you have lying around to measure 1/2 cup)
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 c powdered sugar
Topping:
3/4 c chocolate chips
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Sprinkles:
Crushed peanut butter cookies or peanuts (optional)
1. Preheat your oven to 350 and get your pan of choice ready (the square pan is easier, but the mini-muffin tin make pretty nuggets) with some cooking spray.
2. Put your Oreo’s and peanut butter cookies in a food processor and crush…you should get about 3 cups of crumbs.
3. Pour in the melted butter and mix; the mixture should come together when squeezed.
4. Now, press the entire mixture into the bottom of a square baking pan or spoon about a tablespoon into the bottom of each mini muffin tin and press firmly (mine has a removable bottom so it’s easy to get them out…if you don’t have that, make sure you spray it well or use a mini muffin liner if you have them).
5. In the same bowl of the food processor, blend the filling ingredients (no need to wash out the bowl…good, huh??)
6. Now layer the peanut butter mixture on top of the cookie base (again, either in the baking dish or about a tbsp on top of the cookie layer in the muffin tins); press the filling down firmly.
7. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate with the oil and stir. Pour over the top of the peanut butter filling.
8. If using, sprinkle the top of the chocolate (before it hardens) with the cookie crumbs.
9. Cool completely before cutting or removing from the tins. Cut into squares or pop out of the tins and serve. These can be frozen, but gosh…I’m pretty sure you won’t have to worry about leftovers!!!!
