I feel like I've just rediscovered how incredible peanut butter is, for the umpteenth time in my life. I mean, I KNOW it's good, but sometimes it just takes a heavy swirl of nutella or an extra-fudge brownie to remind me how much I love peanut butter. Anyhow, I'm officially loving peanut butter again, and I blame these bars (and whoever invented "magic bars" in the first place, naturally.)
Actually - is this crazy?! - I've just discovered magic bars AND sweetened condensed milk. I knew both existed but I'd never tried either before. So, this is my first foray into magic-bar-baking and sweetened-condensed-milk-using and I have to say, I'm pretty into it. A crazy good dessert that's incredibly easy to make and can pretty much be customized in a million different ways? Um, yes please.
If you make these here's what you should know: They're simple. They're straightforward. They're kinda sweet and rich but not in an overwhelming way, more in a perfect way. AND they're unapologetically laden with chocolate and peanut butter in every bite and it's absolutely blissful. There's a crumbly peanut butter graham cracker cookie base topped with a layer of gooey sweetened condensed milk, generously sprinkled with deep, dark bittersweet chocolate chips and bold peanut butter chips. When they're warm, they're soft, melty, and completely heavenly, and when they've cooled, they have this perfect mixture of dense, chewy, and crumbly textures that you can sink your teeth into. Either way, they're incredible and I honestly don't think I've ever seen a dessert disappear in our house as quickly as these did.
Now, for the exciting thing about today's post; I have a video to share! For the first time you can actually watch how one of my recipes are made! You can also get a little glimpse into how neat and organized I am in the kitchen; just picture the exact opposite of what you see in the video. HAH ;)
You know what you should do right now? Grab the peanut butta' and MAKE THESE!
Recipe Card
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Magic Bars
A peanut butter graham cracker cookie base topped with gooey sweetened condensed milk and lots of peanut butter and chocolate chips. Easy to make and insanely good!
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 bars (or 16, if sliced smaller) 1x
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (⅓ cup) creamy peanut butter
- 2 ounces (¼ cup) unsalted butter
- 5 ⅜ ounces (1 ½ cups) graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ½ ounces (¾ cup) sweetened condensed milk
- 4 ½ ounces (¾ cup) dark chocolate chips*
- 3 ounces (½ cup) peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line an 8" square pan with foil, leaving some foil hanging over the sides of the pan.
- Combine the peanut butter and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about thirty seconds, until all of the butter has melted. Stir until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and salt and whisk together well. Add the peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients along with the vanilla. Stir together until evenly combined, with all of the graham cracker crumbs evenly moistened. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan in a flat layer to cover the bottom entirely.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the graham cracker base to cover entirely, using an offset spatula to carefully spread out to the corners and sides as needed. Sprinkle peanut butter chips and chocolate chips evenly over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are golden and set and the sweetened condensed milk is bubbling. For gooier bars, bake for closer to 30 minutes; the center will still be pale. For more golden-brown bars, bake until the center is golden, about 35 minutes.
- Cool bars completely in pan on a wire rack. Once cool, use foil overhang to lift bars from pan and slice with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Bars can be reheated briefly in the microwave if desired.
Notes
*In the video above, I chopped my dark chocolate chips, which were larger than a standard chocolate chip. If yours are larger, you can chop them, but it's totally optional.
Linda
I don't have peanut butter chips on hand, so I just used the chocolate, then will drizzle them with a mixture of pb, milk, and powdered sugar. Just took them out of the oven, and they look yummy!
alexandra
Sounds yummy! Hope you loved them as much as we did!
Liz @ Life Made Sweet
I am right there with you! I thought I might make the switch to almond butter but I always come back to my first love…peanut butter! these look yummy!
alexandra
Agreed! Almond butter can be awesome, but peanut butter will always win out!
Dina
they look yummy!
Ashley
I haven't made magic bars in ages!! With the peanut butter and chocolate - these sound perfect! That alone is always such a great combo : )
alexandra
It is... can't go wrong!