Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars feature sweet and salty peanut butter with crisp rice cereal, topped with a fudgy peanut butter chocolate layer.
Servings: 16
Calories: 164kcal
Equipment
- Hand Mixer optional
- Offset spatula optional
Ingredients
Crunchy Peanut Butter Layer
- 1 cup natural peanut butter or substitute creamy peanut butter, see note
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cold water
- 2 cups crisp rice cereal make sure to use gluten-free crisp rice cereal if you need these bars to be gluten-free
Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter Topping
- 100 grams milk chocolate substitute dark chocolate if you prefer (use a dairy-free chocolate to make your bars dairy-free and vegan)
- 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter see note
Instructions
- Prepare an 8x8" baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Set it aside for now.
- Add 1 cup natural peanut butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to mix the ingredients together (or mix by hand with a wooden/silicone spoon or spatula). Add 1 teaspoon cold water and repeat the mixing. You will notice that it quickly solidifies to a dough-like texture. Make sure that there is no free water or wet spots remaining.
- Add 2 cups crisp rice cereal to the peanut butter mixture, and gently fold it in without crushing the cereal. When the cereal is evenly distributed, transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Press the mixture into the pan firmly but gently, again ensuring that you're not crushing the cereal. Smooth the top of the mixture as much as you can.
- Add 100 grams milk chocolate (break or cut it into pieces first if you're using a solid chocolate bar) and 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter to a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir together until the chocolate is completely melted (you can microwave for up to 30 seconds more, if needed, to further melt the chocolate) and smooth.
- Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the prepared crunchy peanut butter and use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread it evenly. Once the chocolate peanut butter layer completely covers the peanut butter crunch layer, rap the pan firmly on the counter a few times to remove any bubbles. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a lid and transfer the pan to the fridge to chill for at least 30-60 minutes.
- Remove the squares from the pan by lifting out the parchment. Carefully peel the parchment off, then cut into squares. Store any leftovers in the fridge to avoid melting, especially in warm weather.
Notes
The peanut butter you use for the peanut butter layer could be either natural or smooth/creamy peanut butter. Using natural peanut butter tastes more like authentic Reese's peanut butter filling, but if you don't have both on hand, regular creamy peanut butter will work fine too.
You can't, however, substitute natural peanut butter for the fudgy chocolate peanut butter topping, as the texture will be too gritty.
Nutrition
Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 158mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
