No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I made these on a recent episode of my Food Network show, and they’re too tasty for words! They’re a super-simple no-bake bar that uses mostly pantry ingredients, and they’re a great treat to have in the fridge for after-school snacks…or, in my case, after breakfast snacks.

But that’s more my issue than yours.

First, make the chocolatey peanut buttery topping! Put some chocolate chips in a bowl with some creamy peanut butter…

Microwave it for a minute or two…

Then stir it until it’s smooth, silky, and you feel like diving in and going swimming. Set this aside to cool slightly while you whip up the bar mixture!

Throw a box of vanilla wafers into the bowl of a food processor (or a large ziploc bag)…

And pulverize them into fine crumbs. When I made them on the show, I kept the crumbs a bit chunky, and that’s delicious, too! Set the crumbs aside for a minute…

Then throw 2 sticks of nice, soft butter into the bowl of a mixer.

Add a cup of chunky peanut butter…

And mix it until it’s smooth.

Then add powdered sugar…

Mix it again until smooth…

Then add the crumbs…

And a bag of a mini-chocolate chips!

Then mix it until the crumbs and the chocolate chips just barely come together.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch dish and dump the mixture right in…

Then press it with a spoon or spatula…

Until it’s in a nice, even layer.

Then, you guessed it, pour the chocolate/peanut butter mixture all over the top…

And spread it into a thin layer, until it coats every last crumb.

Crush up some peanuts…(or pretzels!)…

Then sprinkle them…

All over the top!

Oh, yum. Double yum. Triple yum!

But you can’t eat them yet. You have to pop the pan in the fridge to set the chocolate topping as well as the bars themselves. Just an hour or two! Patience is a virtue!

Once they’re set, you can cut them into squares.

And serve them up.

These are so good, friends. Cut ’em big, cut ’em small…and enjoy every bite!