Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I was inspired by a picture of these amazing looking bars......

The recipe looked good but all of the comments said that it did not work and did not taste so great.... 

Then I was thinking about the cupcakes I wanted to make for my niece -(which did not happen because of a pesky virus) and I found this recipe for a peanut butter filling.

Then  I thought what if I combined everything and made my own version of chocolate peanut butter bars so I got to work- and look what happened!

This is so easy you don't even need pictures of the process!

Crust recipe:

1 stick of butter 

5TBLSP Dutch process cocoa

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

Place in a saucepan on medium low heat and stir until melted and smooth

Beat  1 egg then add a little of the chocolate mixture to temper the egg - then add it to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined.

Next add:

1 cup of unsweetened coconut

1 & 1/2 cup of Graham Cracker crumbs ( I used Gluten Free)

1/2 C Almond meal

The mixture will barely hold together.

Press it into the bottom of an 8X8 pan lined with parchment paper so it comes up each side of the pan.  ( I cut 2 strips to do this)

It will seem thick but that is ok.

Now prepare the Peanut Butter Filling:

1 Cup Peanut Butter ( I used natural creamy Peanut Butter because that is what I always have on hand)

6 Tblsp of Whole milk, Half& Half or Cream

1 & 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar  ( you may need more or less depending on your peanut butter)

Add all the PB to the bowl then add the powdered sugar and milk alternately until it is creamy and thick.

Spread the Peanut Butter Filling on the crust.

Chocolate Ganache Topping

8-10 Oz of your favorite Chocolate

(I used a combination of 60% dark and milk chocolate)

2 Tblsp of Butter

1/4 + of Heavy Cream

Melt the chocolate  and butter in a double boiler over simmering water.  As the chocolate begins to melt add the cream 2 Tblsp at a time.  You want your chocolate to be thick but spreadable.

Let your Ganache cool until just barely warm.

Spread on top of the peanut butter filling

Cover and chill.

The original recipe said to chill for  4 hours - 1 hour was fine for tasting - but the longer the chill the easier they were to slice and serve!

They are super rich so it is best to keep the pieces small..... or not~

By the way - I will still work on something like the original - especially since these were so yummy!!!