peanut butter crispy bars
It is something I have obsessed about since high school. Checking my part, my roots, the tips of hair follicles that take the daily path of falling out of my head, and I was dreading, no loathing, no cursing the day that I found my first gr… blonde hair. My husband having to deal with a wife going through no less than three panic attacks in a week because the tip of this one small little hair could possibly, if held in the right light at the right angle be perceived as a blonde hair. It is a horrible thing to be a premature blonde when your whole world has been brunette.
And frankly, I can’t, at the age of 22, be attached to a dye bottle like a fat kid is attached to cake – what will my future kids think of me? Will my husband leave me? Will my family disown me? This cannot be happening! I am too young, too fresh in spirit to have age take over. I still get my age mixed up and think I’m 18 at times, surely, an 18 year old does not have to deal with issues like these.
So the big dilemma here is will I have an unenthusiastic addiction to a bottle of dye or prance around the city with a skunk stripe, and people I cannot think about it. Not even after sulking over to my husband (looking something like this), throwing the dastardly piece of evidence in his face and him trying to calm me down with he just didn’t see it could make me feel any better about my body aging. I have come to the conclusion I must start prepping myself for death, getting ready for this young face to be old and haggard. And buy as many cookbooks like these
Folks, I just discovered the cookbook of all cookbooks: Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
One Year Ago: Gooey Cheesy Cheeseburgers
Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
Barely adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Yield: 1 8-inch pan (or a 9×13 pan if you triple the recipe as I have (read: in coping with premature hair color change))
Crispy Crust:
1 3/4 cup rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer:
3 ounces good quality milk chocolate
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
Chocolate Ganache
3 ounces dark chocolate (60% — 72% cacao), chopped
1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Crispy Crust: Lightly spray a paper towel with non stick spray and use it to rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan.
Put cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
Pour 1/4 cup water in a small sauce pan. Gently add sugar and corn syrup, not letting the sugar or syrup to touch the sides of the pan, and use a small wooden spoon to stir the mixture until just combined. Put a candy thermometer in the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; cook until mixture reaches the soft ball stage at 235-degrees.
Remove from heat, stir in butter, and pour the mixture over the cereal. Working quickly, stir until the cereal is thoroughly coated, the pour it into the prepared pan (do not press up sides). Let the crust cool to room temperature while you make the next layer.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer: In a large nonreactive metal bowl, stir together the chocolate and peanut butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust. Put the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until the top layer is hardened.
Chocolate Ganache: In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine chocolate, corn syrup and butter. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from pan and stir for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the hardened chocolate peanut butter layer. Put pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until the top layer is hardened.
Cut into squares and serve.
Bars can be kept in air tight container for four days in the refrigerator.
Spoon More: Bars, Chocolate, Peanut Butter
I giggled through this whole post. I love how the random pictures were inserted through your story. It was like GRAY HAIR *YUM PICTURE* MY LIFE *YUM PICTURE*
xoxoxo
Wow! Quite a “rant” about your hair. lol Double Wow! to the peanut butter crispy bars! I can remember feeling just as devastated when I found my first gray hair (actually 3). I frantically tried to show them to a coworker, who also claimed to not be able to see them. I was working FT and had just transferred to a large university for FT studies, so I figured stress was a factor — not to mention the snow storm I had to commute in that day. Anyway, after the initial shock, I don’t recall it being a problem — not for many, many years. I’m 51 now and feel I’m finally (almost) ready to stop being a slave to the dye bottle.
On a brighter note: I love your blog! It’s so interesting, beautifully written and your photos are top notch! I want to get out a thesaurus just to find more adjectives to describe what a lovely job you are doing.
Keep up the good work and know that all your hard work is very much appreciated.
All the best to you! Stay positive! Enjoy the journey!
YES!! This book is a BEAST! They have another book out but I’ve not seen it yet. I made these bars at Christmas and they were a hit! Also the raspberry breakfast bars are delicious and not too sweet, and the Sweet and Salty Cake is out of this world!!
I totally sympathize with you!!! When I grew my roots out, my hair is so ashy blonde that people thought it was all gray. Highlights are my friends!
What kind of dark chocolate did you use? It looks very very dark! Yum!
Cheryl — You’re so kind. Thank you!
Joelle — I picked up both books, the other one
having equally good recipes that I can’t wait to try. Don’t you love that they put a powder horn in the picture with cookies? It warms my heart. As far as the chocolate, I had Josh run to the store to pick some up as I realized I was completely out half way through the recipe and he chose some Ghirardelli 60% cacao. I was worried it wasn’t going to be bitter enough with the extra sweet peanut butter layer and the caramel coated crispy layer, but it actually was perfect — meaning I shouldn’t bag on choices my better half makes due to my lack of foresight.
A little side note: In comparison to the Baked pictures accompanying the recipe, the peanut butter layer is suppose to be a little lighter and more peanut butter looking than the milk chocolate color I got; I think this may be contributed to the fact that I tripled the recipe. Dark in color or not, it still was most definitely peanut butter tasting, and really that is all that matters, err, all that I care about.
Oh I know my nieces and nephews will adore this and I will be the best auntie ever!! Yay!
Funny thing that after I have started working for a consulting company, dealing with construction, and working as an engineer in a very male-dominated civil eng field, I actually gave up my highlights and cheer every single gray hair right now. Makes me look a bit older and I look like I have been in this industry for a while, takes away that “the girl who just started right out of school” look.
My deepest sympathies for your premature blondness. I am fortunate because as a redhead I will likely go gray, I mean blonde, later than most. (Redheads gray later.) But I feel your pain. This recipe looks wonderful, and so does the cookbook. Will have to check it out!
Literally rolling on the floor. I’m so sorry for your premature blonde-ness. Things will be okay though, I promise! And surely these bars helped…. I mean, how could they not?!
These bars look FABULOUS! Not the wimpy, mid-70′s (80′s?) version of “Scotcharoo’s.” :) By the way, gray hair is nothing to fret over — my daughter told me mine looks like TINSEL! :) (Enjoy the process — can’t stop it, so might as well smile about it.) Thanks again for adding me as your TK friend — I’m glad you did.
~ Kim
Love your blog and the great pictures. I made these last night to take to Easter dinner. They were so easy (even without the candy thermometer). My husband and a friend broke into the batch as soon as the ganache had set. Looks like I will be making another round to take with us for Easter.
If it’s any consolation, Meg, my daughter calls my gra– er, BLONDE hair “tinsel!” :)