This year I find myself looking at the calendar in amazement wondering where all the time I thought I had before the holidays went. Actually the whole summer and fall have pretty much zip-pity do da-ed right out of my arse. Spring storms this year brought hail and water damage to our home. So in addition to playing general contractor for the already scheduled brick work, I found my self managing a new roof and gutters (thank-you State Farm), as well as the painting of all the exterior trim. The unplanned remodeling of the lower level of our house did offer us new options for finally completing the “man cave” of our dreams (with a giant HD television, amazing sound system, and sexy lighting) however I guess between doing much of the work myself and organizing the rest, I somehow lost a month or two.
Suddenly it was Thanksgiving (didn’t even see that one coming) and now it was time to decorate the house and make holiday treats for family and friends, neighbors, and the caregivers at the home where my mother resides. So I got busy and busted out a dozen of my trusted holiday family favorites and got to work. As I completed the last treat, I felt that I had sifted, creamed, chopped, dusted, and rolled about as much butter, flour, and sugar as I could possible tolerate. Seems to come a point each year where I am just over it, and with company arriving this coming Wednesday (hopefully a bit later in the day than the new furniture and bed are to be delivered, nothing like running a tight schedule) I felt like I had everything taken care of. Then came the question. “You are going to make Peanut butter balls aren’t you? I don’t see any peanut butter balls. They are my favorite and you always make them. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without them”.
So overnight as I lay awake dreading the idea of rolling and dipping yet another item, the thought came to me to simply make them as a bar. The recipe itself is quite simple, so why not just let simple be and make my life the same. Well the experiment worked quite well I must say. I prepared the filling as I normally would for the balls, but instead pressed it into an 8″ x 8″ pan that I had lined with foil and buttered. Then I tempered some chocolate and flooded it over the top of the filling. I allowed the pan to set up overnight, cut the bar into pieces and….. ta da! I did go the extra and melt some peanut butter chips to decorate the tops but that certainly would have not been necessary. I must say they turned out really quite good. I still think I might prefer the rolled ones, but for this holiday, simple is certainly……. simply delicious.
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup peanut butter smooth or crunchy
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet baking chips
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Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease with butter
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Mix together butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add graham crackers and mix well. Add powdered sugar and mix until a soft dough forms.
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Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
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Melt chocolate by tempering either in a double boiler or in the microwave. Pour melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter mixture and spread evenly.
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Allow for chocolate to set up before cutting. You can speed up this process by placing pan in the fridge.
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Using the foil lift the bars out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into 1" - 1 1/2" squares. Store in an airtight container.
You can use any recipe for Peanut Butter Balls with this method.
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