When I met my husband he was addicted to Mrs. Field’s Peanut Butter Dream Bars and he would frequently wax poetic about his love for them (isn’t that romantic?). He has described them to me so often, I felt like I had actually had one. So to surprise him, I decided to try to replicate them. He swears they are better than the original. I could not comment on that but I can tell you, THESE ARE AWESOME! You are gonna be dreaming about these for the next 30 years!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 8 medium sized chocolate chip cookies (I used my Daddy’s cookies recipe for these which simply put them OVER THE TOP but you can use any cookies. But as Papa John’s founder says, “Better ingredients. Better Pizza”. This isn’t pizza but same rule applies.)
- 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
For the Chocolate Layers:
- 15 ounces sweet chocolate baking squares with 45% cacao (or you could use 15 ounces of milk chocolate chips)
For the Peanut Butter Filling:
- 1&1/2 cups creamy all natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners’ sugar)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons water
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor or blender process cookies until they are finely crumbled. Add butter and allow to mix thoroughly. Press crumb mixture into bottom of 8″ x 8″ pan and cook for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on baking rack until room temperature.
Melt the baking squares (or chips) in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted. Pour half on top of the crust and smooth it out. Put the pan in the fridge to cool.
Blend peanut butter and butter together in an electric mixer (I think a mixer works best here but you could also use a food processor). Slowly add powdered sugar. When thoroughly combined, add vanilla and water. Then spread peanut butter mixture over chilled chocolate layer and pat down, evening it out the best you can. To finish, pour the rest of the melted chocolate over it all and smooth it down. Chill for at least 1 hour before cutting into bars or squares. And then you can send me a thank you note!