okay so… guess what i made last week and literally could not stop eating.
seriously. i stood at the counter and cut “just one more piece” like four times in a row. my husband watched me do it without saying a word. smart man.
alright, so i have to tell you about these peanut butter lunch lady bars. you know how in elementary school the lunch ladies made those giant sheet pan desserts that no restaurant has ever been able to replicate? like, what was IN those things. they were so good. dense and sweet and just… wrong in the best way.
my friend sara brought a version of these to a potluck last fall and i stood next to the dessert table the whole time pretending to be “just hanging out near the food.” i was not just hanging out. i was guarding them. lol.
i texted her for the recipe at like 11pm that night. she sent me a voice memo. i love her.
mine aren’t as good as hers. i always press the base layer too thin on one side. but honestly it doesn’t matter because they disappear in a day regardless.
trust me.
why these are dangerous
no baking required
they taste like nostalgia
takes maybe 20 minutes to throw together
peanut butter and chocolate. that’s it. that’s the reason.
kids lose their minds over them
what you need
i don’t measure super precisely. here’s roughly what i use.
| stuff | how much |
|---|---|
| peanut butter | maybe a cup and a half? the creamy kind. |
| butter | a stick. maybe a little more. |
| powdered sugar | a lot. like 2 cups-ish. |
| graham crackers | one sleeve, crushed up |
| chocolate chips | a whole bag. don’t count them. |
| vanilla | a splash |
| pinch of salt | yes. always. |
how to make them
okay, so first thing. melt the butter in a big bowl. i just microwave mine in bursts. 30 seconds at a time so it doesn’t explode. it always explodes when i forget to do it in bursts.
add the peanut butter and mix it with the butter until it looks smooth and kind of shiny. add the vanilla in here. the powdered sugar goes in next, then the crushed graham crackers. mix it all up. it gets thick really fast and arm day is real.
press that mixture into a pan. i use a 9×13. just push it down with your hands or a spatula. mine always ends up uneven on the edges but whatever. close enough.
melt the chocolate chips. again, microwave. short bursts. stir it between each one. i burned a whole bag once because i got distracted scrolling instagram and it went from glossy to sad and grainy. don’t do that.
pour the chocolate over the peanut butter layer. spread it around. tap the pan on the counter a few times to even it out.
refrigerate for at least an hour. or put it in the freezer for like 20 minutes if you have zero patience, which is me, always.
cut them into squares. wet the knife first. makes it way cleaner. done.
tips & things i’ve learned the hard way
- chunky peanut butter: you can use it. the bars will be a little textured which is actually kind of good. personal preference.
- sea salt on top: right after you pour the chocolate, throw some flaky sea salt on there. it sounds extra but it completely changes the bar.
- cutting them: score the chocolate layer first with the knife before you cut all the way through or the chocolate cracks into pieces and looks terrible.
- pb to chocolate ratio: if you want more chocolate, just use more chocolate. nobody is watching.
storage (and the mystery container situation)
i put mine in a container in the fridge. they keep for a week probably. i never know for sure because they’re gone by day two.
i have this habit of labeling things with a sticky note and then the sticky note falls off and i end up with a mystery container situation. found one in the back of the fridge once and had to smell it to figure out what it was. it was these bars. they were still good.
keep them cold. room temperature makes the chocolate layer kind of soft and they fall apart when you pick them up. ugh.
the numbers
| thing | roughly |
|---|---|
| calories | ~280 per bar |
| fat | 16g |
| carbs | 30g |
| protein | 5g |
(i cut mine pretty small when i write this down and then immediately cut a big piece. so.)
questions
can i use natural peanut butter? you can try but the oily separation thing makes the base kind of greasy and it doesn’t set as firm. the regular processed kind works way better here. skippy or jif. the classics.
what if i can’t find graham crackers? i’ve used crushed oreos before. the base tasted like a cookie on top of a cookie. not mad about it at all.
do these need to be refrigerated? yes. unless you want a chocolate puddle situation. refrigerate them.
can i freeze them? totally. slice them first and put parchment between the layers so they don’t fuse into one giant bar. actually amazing frozen, by the way.
