Monday, March 26, 2012

Hauntingly good...


Has a recipe ever haunted you? In a good way, that is. I fell in love with these peanut butter bars back in my grad school days. They sat, individually and very humbly wrapped in plastic wrap, right next to the register at my favorite bagel shop. Whenever I stopped in for my regular pizza bagel with broccoli, one of these always finished my meal. I never even knew what they were called, and it wasn't until I had graduated and moved away that I found myself longing for the recipe. The texture of these peanut butter bars, dense yet smooth, and the dance of peanut butter and chocolate flavors stuck with me for years.

And one day, about 10 years later, I was flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks, and stumbled upon this recipe. A quick look at all the ingredients and I just knew, this had to be it. It is the combination of powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs that give these bars that unforgettable texture. They are easy to make, don't need to be baked, and only require a spoon and a pair of clean hands for pressing the peanut mixture into the pan. If you've ever had buckeyes, these are similar in texture and taste, minus all the hard work of rolling the balls and hand dipping them in chocolate.

(Courtesy of Cook and Love it More, compiled by all of the parents at Lovett, the school I attended in Atlanta from kindergarten through high school).

Peanut Butter Chocolate Squares
1 box confectioners sugar
1- 1/2 cups peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1- 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1- 1/2 sticks margarine, melted
1 twelve ounce package chocolate chips
1/2 stick margarine

Mix first four ingredients well and press into bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Press mixture down firmly. Melt chocolate and 1/2 stick margarine together in saucepan, and pour over the firmly packed crust. Set aside until completely cool and then cut into squares.