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Chocolate peanut butter bars! These are made extra easy with a cake mix and that gooey chocolate center is beyond amazing!
My husband has been whiny lately.
Apparently I haven’t been making enough chocolate and peanut butter treats for him? He feels like it’s all caramel, all the time around here.
I will admit to a slight obsession with caramel lately, but I’m not out of control or anything.
Seriously. I can stop at any time.
To prove it, I made these insane chocolate peanut butter bars. They are bursting with chocolate and peanut butter. The filling is so gooey and rich. The crust is full of peanut butter. These totally taught my husband a lesson.
And that lesson? If you whine enough, I’ll give you what you want just to shut you up.
I maybe didn’t plan that so great, but I’m not mad about it. I’ve got peanut butter chocolate bars sitting around my house, after all.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix (18 ounces)
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 13x9 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Place the cake mix, peanut butter, melted butter and eggs in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick.
- Reserve 1 1/2 cups for the topping. Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the pan. Using your fingertips, press the crust evenly over the bottom of the pan so that it reaches all sides. Set aside.
- For the filling, place the chocolate chips, condensed milk, and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium pot over low heat. Stir and cook until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust, and spread it evenly with the rubber spatula so that it reaches the sides of the pan. Using your fingertips, crumble the reserved crust and scatter it evenly over the chocolate.
- Bake until the top crust is light brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- Cut into 16 pieces and serve.
- Store at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Nutrition Information:
adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor
Kerri says
This is the best. My husband is a huge peanut butter and chocolate fan and he said these are the best he’s ever had! For me they were so easy with things I already had on hand.
Karly says
Oh wow, love to hear that from a fellow chocolate peanut butter lover!
Mary Harwood says
These are in my oven now! So easy, I added 1/2 cup all purpose flour to my 15oz cake mix and had enough mix for topping and bottom crust! Maybe try melting butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips to some canned dulce de Leche for a caramel version! Thanks for the awesome recipe?
sly311 says
The presentation of these dessert treats on ripped paper towels is tacky at best. Certainly not conducive to getting someone’s attention. You need to watch more Food Network shows.
danielle says
Yum! I wanted to let you know that I featured this today in my “What I Bookmarked This Week” post. Thanks for the inspiration.
Christine says
Hi Karly,
Wow, thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I tweaked it a bit by adding a tsp of instant coffee granules to the chocolate filling and by spreading some peanut butter over the initial layer of crust before adding the chocolate filling on top. To DIE for!
I love to bake, and I try to bake something every other week or so for a salsa dancing team that I practice with on Saturdays. Last night I made these bars, and (after more quality control than was necessary on my part…I had a fair sampling), I just can’t wait to share them today! I will also be making another batch this Sunday for a summer bbq I’m hosting.
Thank you thank you thank you!
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
Love chocolate and peanut butter together!!
Catherine Smith says
Hi Karly: I love chocolate and peanut so these bars look so yummy. I am going to try them in couple of days and try not to eat so many and give some to my neighbors. I love all your recipes and contests!