dessert
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars
Shortbread cookie crust topped with creamy peanut butter and dark chocolate!
A little about this recipe
These addicting little cookie bars are reminiscent of the classic girl scout favorite, except gluten-free and made with coconut sugar! Cookie bars are a genius way to make cookie making even more convenient! Instead of dealing with rolling, slicing, scooping or assembling individual cookies, you just dump the ingredients into a pan, cook, slice and done.
These bars use only a handful of ingredients and the process couldn’t be much easier! Assemble the crust layer, bake it, top with a peanut butter layer, cover the whole thing in chocolate and chill. They taste amazing and you’ll be shocked that such an easy recipe with simple ingredients could turn into such a decadent and fancy little treat!
For the chocolate layer, I like to use organic dark chocolate chips because that is what we always have on hand. Dark or semi-sweet chocolate will have significantly less sugar than milk chocolate, plus I love the way the dark chocolate balances out the creamy peanut butter and buttery crust layer. But obviously use whatever chocolate your family likes!
GREEN BEE GLUTEN FREE
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars
Ingredients
cookie crust
peanut butter layer
chocolate topping
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°, and line an 8 by 8 baking tray with parchment paper. Stir together all your crust ingredients using a fork, it may take a moment to get everything uniform but if your butter is relatively soft it should come together well.
Using your fingers, spread the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. It will be a very thin layer.
Cook the crust for 15 minutes, until golden brown on the edges.
While the crust is baking, mix together your peanut butter, coconut sugar, and vanilla. Set the mixture near the warm stove so it slightly warms up. This will make it easier to spread.
Begin melting your chocolate. I use a makeshift double boiler: a large glass bowl set on top of a smaller saucepan with a few inches of water. As the water begins to simmer the heat melts the chocolate. Keep an eye on it, stirring frequently with a spatula. (You could also use a microwave. Heat the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for a few seconds at a time, stirring in between. We nixed our microwave a few years ago, and the stove top method works perfectly!)
Remove crust from the oven, and immediately start spreading the peanut butter layer on top gently. I like to scoop the peanut butter in small dollops all over. The residual heat from the crust will begin to soften the peanut butter even more, making it easier to spread. Go slowly and gently so as not to crumble the cookie layer underneath.
By now your chocolate should be melted completely. Carefully pour the melted chocolate overtop of the peanut butter layer and spread evenly with a spatula. Be careful, the glass bowl will be hot.
Place the cookie bars in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes so the chocolate sets. Then slice into 16 bars and enjoy!!
