Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Some friends from out of town were visiting the other weekend, so at the eleventh hour I whipped up a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip bars. They were a big hit!
Many recipes I’ve seen call for adding chopped peanuts to the batter along with the chocolate chips; I’ll leave that up to you. Personally, I’m averse to peanuts in baked goods; I think they interrupt an otherwise soothing tactile experience. Seriously, I rue the day when someone decided it was a good idea to put peanuts into a perfectly good peanut butter cookie. Don’t even think about it!
These bars are traditional and bakery-style– soft, dense, and slightly chewy. Use standard, creamy, sweetened peanut butter in this recipe. The peanut flavor isn’t overpowering, and the texture is almost blondie-like. And they’re free of weird ingredients! They are pretty freakin’ fantastic, if I do say so myself.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
¾ c peanut butter
3 tbsp oil
1 c turbinado (or light brown) sugar
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
3 tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ c flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp water
1 c vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×9″ baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together peanut butter, oil, and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together flax seeds and 3 tbsp water. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry to wet mixture; mix well. Add 3 tbsp water to soften the dough; it should be a texture similar to cookie dough. Fold in chocolate chips. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan, and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is golden. Let cool in pan; slice and serve.
Tags: bars, chocolate, Peanut Butter
`You might also like
 |
 |
 |
 |
Subscribe to the HYIV! RSS feed
Those look DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe- my family will love them!
These look so good. I’ve got company coming this week and these would be just the thing to welcome them with. And I agree with you that peanuts or any nuts disturb the pleasant sensation of eating baked goods.
Let me know how you like them if you make them, Andrea!
Umm, drool. Nuff said.
THIS LOOKS AMAZING! And I feel the same way about peanuts or nuts in baked goods, totally out of place and unnecessary! This recipe looks easy and delicious, can’t wait to make them!
These look yummy! I would not trust myself around these.
YUMMMMMMMMM! This looks so good! I am saving this to make it tomorrow! Thanks!
I’m all over these!
Yum!
I made these for dessert tonight- they were everything I hoped they would be. I had regular peanut butter (Whole Foods brand), not sweetened. And I used 6 Tbsp. of water at the end instead of the suggested 3. Cooked for 30 minutes. I’ll be making these again.. thanks! Oh, I *almost* forgot to add the vanilla because the directions don’t mention when to add it. Still sweet and fabulous with the unsweetened pb. 5 stars!
So glad you liked them, Jana! Thanks for the feedback.
mmm, they look like the PB blondies from Vegan Brunch!
As soon as i read the title to this post in my google reader I knew it was going to be good… Yet another recipe to bookmark! x
Oh, yes!
Mmmm who doesn’t like the wonderful peanut chocolate combo? looks great!
I know, right? I never tire of it myself.
What a great idea! I’m going to make these soon.
Wow these look amazing! I am going to make them ASAP
Made this tonight for a group of friends for our dinner & prayer group… so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Glad it was a success, Christy! Thanks for the review
I made these this morning with whole wheat pastry flour and buckwheat flour — SUPER GOOD. Thanks for the recipe!!! Oh, and I also had to add a bit more water.
wow these look so easy to make, and not alot of ingredients…
i also agree with the peanuts comment. i dont like them in baked goods, whats up with that? they do GO lol
Wow, those look great. I cant wait to make these! Thanks for sharing!
Claryn, these seriously ROCKED. My friend and I made them. We used sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter, agave nectar in place of sugar, and a gluten free flower mix in place of the regular flour. They were beyond delicious. They were satisfying, gooey, and tasty but didn’t sit like bricks in my stomach. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Glad you liked them, Bria! Sunflower seed butter is fantastic, so I bet your rendition tasted great
Awesome-ness!!!
I made these 3 days ago, and again this evening. I wanted to use fresh ground PB the 1st time, but my local co-op was waiting on a part to repair their grinding machine so I had to use a jarred, natural (nothing added) PB. SO glad that I didn’t use sweetened. I didn’t feel there was a strong enough PB flavor, due to the amount of sweetness. I also questioned the use of turbinado sugar, but I wanted to follow the rest of the recipe as directed, then make judgments. My gut was right. Despite whipping the crap out of the PB, oil, sugar mixture, the finished product remained too grainy. …btw, I too found that 3 to 4 more TB of water had to be added.
Upon remaking them, I got to use fresh ground PB (YAY!!!), which I upped to a full cup. This, combined with a half cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a half cup bitter-sweet chocolate chips (both vegan), along with natural cane sugar (instead of turbinado) that there was a NICE balance of chocolate, sweetness, and PB goodness, which came through MUCH better this time. They came out SO well, I’ll be making them for every major upcoming function! LOVE them!!! Thank you!
It’s true that people unaccustomed to the coarseness of turbinado sugar may prefer to use light brown sugar, as I suggested in the recipe. Personally, I enjoy the texture they add to these bars!
[...] chocolate + peanut butter By robocatconfectionary Wow…it’s been a week! I knew I had a long bike ride ahead of me and wanted something delicious to share with friends when I arrived at my destination…these were perfect! The recipe is from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan! http://hellyeahitsvegan.com/?p=1789#more-1789 [...]
These are the best thing ever – thank you!!! And it’s made with ingredients I always have in the pantry, so I can make them whenever a craving strikes.