The Supermom Chef

Are you sick of dessert recipes yet? No???? Well, here’s another one then! We leave for Boston again in just a few short days and I’m trying to avoid going to the grocery store and leaving unused groceries here while when we head out, so I’m using up all the stuff in my freezer. Which means that I’m cooking recipes for dinner that are most likely already on the blog (or either not intricate enough to justify a blog post). So in case you were wondering if we live off of just chocolate and desserts here at our, we don’t…it only appears that way!

I’m not one of those people that just loves rice krispie treats, but my hubby is. So when I saw this recipe, I knew right away that he’d like them. He didn’t like them quite as much as I thought he would because he said they were too chocolately. The spazoid doesn’t like chocolate…what kind of freak doesn’t like chocolate? So next time I make them I’m going to half the ganache on top and only cover half of the krispies with them. I think they’d be his new favorite dessert if I did that. I didn’t get a single complaint from my three kids, or my parents and brother when I took them some today though. They all loved them, as did I!

Look at all these creamy, delicious layers! (A macro lens would really come in handy for shots like these…HINT, HINT, HONEY!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

3 cups miniature pretzel twists, coarsely crushed & divided

3 cups crisp rice cereal

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), divided

1 (10.5 oz) bag miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup light corn syrup, divided

1 (10 oz) bag peanut butter morsels

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Set aside 1/3 cup of the crushed pretzels. Place remaining pretzels and cereal in a large mixing bowl. Melt 6 tablespoons butter; add marshmallows and stir until melted and combined. Add to cereal/pretzel mixture and stir again until combined. Spread crust ingredients into a 9×13″ baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine 2 tablespoons of the butter and half of the corn syrup (1/4 cup) in a microwave safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter morsels; mix until melted (mixture will be stiff). Spread peanut butter mixture over crust.

For ganache, place remaining butter and corn syrup in the same microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted. Stir in chocolate morsels; mix until smooth. Spread ganache evenly over peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and reserved pretzels. Place in freezer for 5-10 minutes or until ganache is set. Cut into 24 squares; cut squares in half.

Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef’s Season’s Best Recipe Collection, Spring/Summer 2011