Gold Bars

Delightfully sinful.  That is truly the very best way to describe these bars.  Wait until you read the ingredient list...you'll see...sinful.  But delightfully so.

The original recipe called these "Peanut Butter Cup Bars."  And that's a pretty good way to describe them.  A very good way, actually, because that's what they taste like.  However, they remind me of the "Gold Bars" served at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in the late '80s, so that is my name for them. 

I don't care what you call them.  Just eat them.  And then repent.

Gold Bars
Prep time: 10 mins      Chill time: at least 30 mins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate...pick your flavor)

Preparation:
Before you get started...first, line an 8x8 square pan with foil, leaving enough foil to hang over the sides to act as "handles" when removing from the pan.  Butter the foil.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter over medium heat until just melted.  Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar and stir until smooth.  Then add the graham cracker crumbs* and peanut butter.  Stir until well-combined.  Spread into the pan.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup of butter to your now-empty saucepan and heat over medium heat until just melted.  Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips, stir until melted.  Spread over the peanut butter layer.

Chill in the refridgerator for at least 30 minutes, then remove from pan and cut into 16-24 squares, depending on the size of bar you prefer.  If you use semi-sweet chips (like I did) I recommend 24 bars as they're pretty rich.


*I used my the food processor attachment for my blender to make the crumbs - far easier than the plastic-bag-rolling-pin method.

Adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker