Sometimes, you just need chocolate, right? Lots and lots of moist, fudge-y cake topped with a layer of peanut butter and smothered in more chocolate fudge icing. That's what you'll get with these Chocolate Peanut-Butter Bars.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Servings: 24Bars
Calories: 188kcal
Author: Don Herman
Ingredients
1cupWhole Wheat Flour
1cupUnbleached Flour
2cupsSugar
1tspBaking Soda
1cupButter
1/4cupCocoa Powder
1cupWater
1/2cupButtermilk
2lgEggs
1tspVanilla
16ozPeanut Butterno sugar added - important!
Fudge Icing
1/4cupButter
3tbspButtermilk
4tbspCocoa Powder
8ozPowdered Sugar
1tspVanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9X13" baking pan
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking soda with a whisk. Set aside.
Combine water, buttermilk and eggs in a medium bowl and whisk until slightly frothy.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa powder until combined. Then add the buttermilk mixture.
Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just evenly boiling.
Add this HOT mixture to the flour and beat until smooth - maybe 2 minutes or so. Add vanilla midway.
Spread the batter into your prepared pan.
Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Spread the peanut butter gently over the warm cake. Then let it cool completely.
Fudge Icing
Place the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Melt the butter over medium heat (you can use the same pan you used before – less clean-up!)
Add the buttermilk, then cocoa and stir constantly until mixture boils as before
Pour the HOT mixture over the sugar and beat until smooth. It should reach an almost pourable consistency – if it turns dough-y, you’ll need a little bit more melted butter and buttermilk.
Stir in vanilla. Gently spread the icing over the peanut butter, then let the icing set for a while in a cool place (I covered mine with foil and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes).Slice and serve.
Notes
As I mentioned, this cake is very, very rich, so I sliced it into small bars. Once the icing sets, it cuts cleanly and you can see the nice layering of the peanut butter and fudge. I got 24 bars out of it.