I'm Way Overdue for Some Dessert!

There's entirely too much chicken and bacon being cooked in my apartment - I need to bake and post more desserts. A thousand apologies, faithful readers! Although it might be because when I cook desserts, I tend to eat my body weight in them without restraint (as does my husband). Not good.

I have a couple of those dry cookie mixes from Betty Crocker sitting in my pantry (it's actually a coat closet converted into a pantry because I live in a crappy apartment - it's super ghetto and I call it my "hoarder closet". Maybe if convinced I will post a pic of it so you can all point and laugh). The mixes are surprisingly tasty and very easy, usually requiring only some water, an egg and oil or butter.

Mike loves peanut butter, so I grabbed a quick recipe online at Betty Crocker for Layered Peanut Butter Bars that uses one of the cookie mixes as a base. You could certainly whip up your own peanut butter cookie base from scratch if you are so compelled, but um, I'm lazy and ME WANT COOKIES.

Hi, friends!

Mix the cookie ingredients together until it starts to form a ball.

Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan, pop it into a 350 degree oven, and bake for 15-18 mins.

Once the cookie is done, let cool completely and resist the urge to feast upon it. I never said baking was easy, people.

Now beat the sugar, milk, butter and peanut butter until smooth and then spread on top of the cookie. This whipped stuff is no short of awesome, next time I make the recipe, I'm doubling it!

Next, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave, then spread over cookie and whipped layer. Let the chocolate firm up in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until you can bear it no longer!

Dig in.


Layered Peanut Butter Bars

Cookie Base

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Frosting
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir all Cookie Base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In small bowl, beat all Filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cookie base.

In microwavable bowl, microwave all Frosting ingredients on High 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.