When I was young and poor, before Jimmer and I got married, we used to entertain ourselves by spending hours in used book stores. Jimmer would search for underpriced collectable books and I would get comfy in the cookbook section. A house, two kids, a cat and a dog later, our lives are quite scheduled. We hardly ever have time for browsing, but a few weeks back we found ourselves in the stacks once again. I made one purchase, a cookbook called “The Great American Bake Sale.” I organize a lot of bake sales for my daughter’s school, so it seemed like a prudent investment.
This is my first recipe from the book, a no-bake dessert they call Original Sin Bars. And because its me, I changed the recipe just a bit. The resulting bar tastes like a peanut butter cup in a bar form. They are incredibly rich and delicious.
Original Sin Bars
Adapted from a recipe in “The Great American Bake Sale”
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups chunky peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (22 graham crackers pureed in food processor)
- 4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar
- 7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped or chips
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- large pinch of kosher salt
Line a 9 X 13-inch pan with aluminum foil. Make sure the foil extends about 2 inches up past the two long sides of the pan. You will use this extra foil later to lift the finished bars out of the pan before cutting.
Melt butter with peanut butter in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Add the graham cracker crumbs, vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Pat the peanut butter mixture into the lined ungreased 9 X 13-inch pan.
Melt the chocolate chips, butter and the pinch of salt in the microwave and stir until smooth.
Spread the melted chocolate mixture over the peanut butter layer.
Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut with a hot dry knife.
Mmmmm. That is really good.
VARIATION: Try doubling the chocolate layer. I mean how could it be bad?