The Sweetest Kitchen

Dear peanut butter fiends, as if you needed another reason to love peanut butter!  I am going to show you something so deliciously peanut buttery and chocolatey that you just may explode!

In case this hasn’t gotten your attention yet, let me explain what exactly this is.  In the picture above you are seeing a layer of dark chocolate which is drizzled with milk chocolate and peanut butter-white chocolate.  Peanut butter-white chocolate?  No, you can’t buy it, but you can make it at home.  But what makes this chocolate and peanut butter slice so extra peanut buttery?  It’s in the base.

See?  It’s a baked mixture of some melted peanut butter and butter, some flour, brown sugar, an egg, and something a little different – desiccated coconut.  The texture of the base is shortbread-like, sort of crumbly.  I warn you, it’s quite thick and heavy, so if you’re looking for something light you better keep searching!  But it is oh so delicious!

The recipe comes from Valli Little and can be found online here, and in the book Sweet which is a publication from delicious. magazine.  I didn’t realize the recipe was online when I bought said book, and the only reason – I repeat, the only reason – I bought this book was because of this particular recipe.

You can whip these slices up pretty quickly, aside from the setting time in the refrigerator required for the chocolate.  You don’t need an electric mixer or any other fancy equipment.  As long as you’re able to melt a few ingredients and stir, you can make this!

Before I pass along the recipe though, I must issue a disclaimer.  You absolutely need a glass of milk with these slices, and I hold no responsibility for what might happen if this warning is ignored!  ;)

One last thing, you can call these “bars” instead of “slices” if you like.  I think “slices” is just an Australian term for “bars”.

I wasn’t going to post this photo because it’s not as bright as the others and my 1-year-old smudged the chocolate while it was setting in the refrigerator (towards the bottom, left of center).  But I thought you might want to see what the drizzles looked like before the whole thing was cut up!

Chocolate And Peanut Butter Slice
Adapted from Sweet by Valli Little
Makes 12 slices, or bars

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
1 cup (280g) smooth peanut butter, plus 2 tbs extra to drizzle
11/2 cups (225g) plain flour, sifted
3/4 firmly packed cup (165g) brown sugar
1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut
1 egg, beaten
250g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
50g white chocolate, chopped
50g milk chocolate, chopped

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20 x 30cm lamington pan with baking paper, leaving 4cm overhanging on all sides.

Combine the butter and peanut butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until melted. Place the flour in a large bowl with the sugar, coconut, egg and butter mixture and stir to combine. Press the mixture into the base of the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 10 minutes until golden (I had to bake for 10 minutes longer). Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water) until the chocolate has melted. Stir until smooth, then pour over the base and chill for 30 minutes until set.

Melt the white and milk chocolates in separate bowls as above. Whisk the extra 2 tbs peanut butter into the white chocolate until smooth. Drizzle slice with melted milk chocolate, followed by the white chocolate mixture. Chill briefly until set. Using the paper, lift the slice out of the pan and cut into 12 squares.