Peanut Butter Krispy Bars
If a rice krispy treat and a peanut butter cup were to cross the line that divides candy and dessert and have a torrid love affair, THIS would be their decadent lovechild. Rich creamy peanut butter topped with dark chocolate icing, all on top of puffy crispyness, a.k.a. awesome topped with awesome, all on top of awesomeness. I’m just sayin.
Yes, I admit, not so talented with a knife or straight lines.
I highly suggest that you make these… NOW… and share them with your friends… or your boyfriend… and then they will owe you BIG TIME… or love you forever… :)
Peanut Butter Krispy Bars
adapted from smitten kitchen, from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
The original posted recipe called for an 8 inch square baking pan, but I only have a 9 inch, so I increased all the quantities a bit because I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough in each layer (and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?).
Crispy crust
2 1/4 cups of crisped rice cereal
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup water
Milk chocolate peanut butter layer
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (the recipe recommends milk chocolate, but I only had semi-sweet)
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Dark chocolate icing
5 ounces dark chocolate (60-72% cocoa), coarsely chopped
3/4 teaspoon light corn syrup
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
pinch of salt
- For the crispy crust: Spray a 9 inch square baking pan. Put the cereal in a large bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, pour water and add sugar and corn syrup. Heat over medium high heat and bring to a boil. The recipe says to “cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 235 degrees F.” (see note below). Remove from heat, stir in the butter, and pour the mixture over the cereal and stir until the cereal is fully coated. Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking pan in a flat layer. Let the crust cool to room temperature while you prepare the peanut butter layer.
- For the milk chocolate peanut butter layer: In a nonreactive metal or glass bowl stir together chocolate and peanut butter. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, constantly stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from heat and cool slightly by stirring for about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust, spreading evenly, and place in the fridge for an hour until hardened.
- For the chocolate icing: In a nonreactive metal or glass bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, constantly stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled peanut butter layer and spread by rolling around the pan until it fully coated into an even layer. Put the pan into the fridge for 1 hour.
- Cut into 9, 16, or in my case, 36 square pieces. The bars can be stored in the fridge.
Note: Since I do not own a candy thermometer (and couldn’t approximate with our meat thermometer because I had misplaced it) and have no idea what “soft ball stage” means, I just boiled for about 5 minutes and the mixture became a bit thicker. According to the internet, “soft ball stage” means when you drop a little of the syrup into ice water it will form a soft ball. Basically, as the sugar mixture increases in temperature, the water will boil off and the sugar concentration will increase. The final texture of candy is a function of the sugar concentration: “soft ball” (235 F) is the sugar concentration ideal for fudge-y consistency, “hard crack” (300 F) is for toffee-like consistency, and “brown liquid” (338 F) is caramel.
