Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Dream Bars - Five Stars

By á-25138

These bars are just wonderful! The crust and topping has a subtle caramel flavor thanks to all that butter and brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, which intensifies and deepens the caramel flavor). The filling has a nice light peanut butter flavor without being too overpowering or sweet, almost like creamy peanut butter fudge. In fact, I thought the filling would be sweeter than what it turned out, and was pleasantly surprised. The filling is smooth and creamy and compliments the sweetness of the Milk choclate chips and Reese’s Candy bar pieces that I added to the topping.

Right out of the oven these bars are ooey, gooey and very good. You definately need a spoon to eat and scoop up every last drop of the filling from the dish! I did chill these until set and they are much easier to eat, I can’t decide which way I like them best; warm with melted chocolate and peanut butter all over my spoon and fingers (MMMM, I love to lick my fingers) or chilled and set making the filling seem almost fudge-like (only a bit softer). Either way these are sure to please any Peanut Butter and Chocolate lover, and with the oatmeal, these are almost a health food!

The down side is that I don’t think these will travel well or stand up to summer heat. They are great but messy, but heck, as complaints go, that is a minor one! Next time I might add more chopped Reese’s candy bars because I can’t get enough of those babies!

I rate these bars an 8.5

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 King size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup candy bars, roughly chopped
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Details

Servings 24
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 35mins
Adapted from bakingblonde.wordpress.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with tin foil and spray with Pam.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, soda, oatmeal, flour & salt until it becomes a crumbly texture and set aside a little more than 1 cups worth of the crust mixture.

Press the remaining crust into your prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is cooking, in a small bowl, stir the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk together.
Once the crust has baked, pour and spread peanut butter filling over the baked crust in an even layer. Be careful not to pull up the warm crust while spreading your mixture.

Evenly sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top of the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mix. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the chopped candy bars and chocolate chips on top. Return to the oven and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until topping is light golden brown and the chocolate chips and bars are melting.

Allow to cool before cutting and serving. Enjoy!