Buttery, chewy crust with a peanut butter fudge center and a generous amount of homemade chocolate fudge frosting,
these bars are welcomed by the masses.
My favorite subject in elementary school was school lunch.
Most kids cared about recess, but not this girl.
Not for the navy beans or the sloppy joes, no no.
I anxiously awaited the day that the sweet lunch ladies would make these amazing peanut butter bars.
They would bring smiles to the whole school, and this recipe needs to be shared with the whole world.
So let me show you how to make these today on The Stay At Home Chef.
There are 3 layers to the peanut butter bars:
First the peanut butter oat crust,
then in the middle the peanut butter fudge layer,
then topped with a homemade chocolate frosting.
First thing first we need to make the crust.
So over at the oven preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease an 18x13 baking sheet.
In a large bowl I'm going to add in 1 cup of softened salted butter,
1 cup of white sugar,
and 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar.
You can use a hand mixer, I'm going to go ahead and use this upright stand mixer.
We're gonna cream those together for about 1 minute.
Then add to that 1 cup of creamy peanut butter,
2 eggs,
and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and mix that to combine.
Last ingredients we need to add in are 2 cups of old-fashioned oats,
and 2 cups of all-purpose flour,
1 teaspoon of salt,
and 1 teaspoon of baking soda,
and mix until combined.
Then add the dough to a greased baking sheet.
I like to do it in sections.
Then press that dough out across the baking sheet evenly.
Then bake this in our preheated oven for 14-16 minutes.
While the crust is cooking we're gonna whip up the second layer the peanut butter fudge.
In a bowl combine 1/4 cup of melted butter,
and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
Mix those together until smooth.
Then add in 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter to that and mix that until smooth and combined.
Once the crust is cooked and it's a tad more golden drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter fudge across the warm crust.
Let the peanut butter fudge melt up a little bit and then spread it across by playing connect the dots.
Let this cool completely, and while it's cooling let's make the final layer the chocolate frosting.
In a large bowl we're going to add in 1 cup of salted butter, surprise surprise,
1/4 cup of milk,
and 1/3 cup of heavy cream,
1/2 cup of cocoa powder,
and 5 cups of confectioners sugar.
Mix these ingredients on low for about 30 seconds using an upright stand mixer or hand mixer.
Then turn to medium-high for another 1 1/2 - 2 minutes, until the frosting is perfectly smooth.
Now that our crust and fudge layer is completely cooled we're gonna go ahead and frost it.
Spread that frosting across the peanut butter fudge layer nice and evenly.
As quick as you can grab something to slice into these, you are ready to eat.
Thanks for watching.
You can find the full written recipe in the video description below.
Be sure to check out www.thestayathomechef.com,
where you can find hundreds of restaurant quality recipes
you can easily make at home.
We'll see you later.