chocolate dipped peanut butter cookie bars
I know being healthy in January is the big thing right now, but good golly gosh I really wanted to make these.
As far as recipe development goes right now, if I come up with a concept that really strikes my sparkplug, I’m going to run with it, even it’s against current trends. January is usually a reset month for folks – in varying extremes – to kind of clean house after the holidays. Then there’s assholes like me who are still shoving down French fries and fish tacos like I’m on death row.
Which, I mean, I guess we all are, but that’s not a topic for the present. Too morbid. We have cookies to bake.
I might have been Instagram stalking myself and saw the Chocolate Dipped Bourbon Peanut Butter Cookies from Christmastime, so came up with this simple treat. I dunno. I almost never know where my ideas originate, they just kinda fall out of the sky and into my mouth. But I’m happy I came across this one in my mental travels because sheeeeeit they are good.
Peanut butter cookie base swirled with chocolate chips, sliced into bars, and dunked in melted chocolate shell. A truly divine and near-effortless endeavor. Takes a bit to account for chilling the bars, but the payoff is worth it. I feel like I say that sentence in every recipe that requires a bit of waiting. Phooey.
Hey, Peanut
Peanut is a strange nickname for a living being. But I guess any nickname is strange. Whatever.
Begin with my favorite peanut butter cookie dough formulation. Cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar together in a big bowl. Whip in two eggs, one at a time, then lots of vanilla extract. Then your dry shit: flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the dough comes together. Fold in some chocolate chips with a spatula.
Line a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with parchment. Spread your cookie dough from edge to edge in as even a layer as possible. I like to press a few more chocolate chips on top.
Bake 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cookie bars are generally hard to gauge (for me at least) by the toothpick test, so I usually go by color and the set of the center. The edges should be golden and crisp-looking, and the center no longer gooey. The cookie will also puff up a bit.
Cool the bars in the pan for about 10 minutes, then move the pan to the fridge to chill for awhile. I usually do about an hour, or overnight if I’m not in too much of a hurry. The important thing is to let the cookie set pretty thoroughly, else they’ll be rather hard to dunk.
A Dunk in the Chocolate Pool
Two-ingredient chocolate shell garnishes our pretty little bars: chocolate chips and coconut oil.
Melt those buddies together in a bowl or glass measuring jar until smooth. I start with 1 minute, stir until my bowl is no longer warm, then add another 20-30 seconds to make sure it’s good and glossy and ready to roll.
Pull the parchment out of the baking pan, then slice up your bars. Keep in mind I did 12 bars purely for aesthetic: I recommend 24 squares. Or somewhere around that number. And if you’re like me, you won’t be able to cut in a straight line and shit will look wonky. That’s cool. No matter. Ain’t no blue-ribbon baking beauty pageant shit happening here.
Toss a sheet of parchment beneath a wire rack to catch your drippy drips. Dunk one side of each bar into the melted chocolate. Let excess drizzle into the bowl, then transfer to the wire rack. Repeat with all your bars. Let the shell set for about 10 minutes, and finish with a dusting of flaky salt. Flaky salt + chocolate + peanut butter = wowzas.
These bars keep beautifully, both before and after chocolate dippage, for about a week in the fridge. You could certainly leave them undecorated for that long before finishing ’em off to serve. Or, throw them in the freezer for up to 3 months. I love a good frozen cookie – sometimes better than a warm one, cos I’m weird.
Plus, remembering you have cookies in the freezer is a lovely surprise when you whirl home after a shit day. Just saying.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Peanut butter snacky time:
Baked Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Doughnuts
Bakery Style Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Crinkly Maple Glazed Peanut Butter Cookies
chocolate dipped peanut butter cookie bars
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
- flaky salt, for sprinkling
chocolate shell
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Press the dough into the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top, if desired. Bake for 22-25 minutes until the edges are golden and the center is set. Let cool on the counter for 10 minutes, then transfer the pan to the fridge for 45-60 minutes longer or up to overnight. Chilling makes the bars easier to cut and dunk.
- In a microwave-safe container, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil for 1 minute. Stir until the vessel is no longer warm. Heat for 20-30 seconds longer, stirring afterwards, until the chocolate is silky and completely melted. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bars from the fridge. Carefully lift the parchment out of the pan. Slice into 24 squares. The photos are in 12 bars purely for aesthetic. Just FYI.
- Place a sheet of parchment beneath a wire rack. Dunk one side of each bar into the melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into the bowl. Place onto the wire rack. Let the chocolate harden for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky salt and DEVOUR.
