Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

December 24, 2013

Since it is cookie season I have been playing around with a bunch of different cookie recipes. These cookies are a bit different than most in that in addition to sweet caramel the layers of these cookies are made up of salty crunchy crackers. Like many people, I love the combination of sweet and salty. A little bit of salt is often exactly what is needed to take a dessert from tasty to sublime. While I love the elegance and complexity of something like salted caramel ice cream sometimes it is fun to enjoy the sweet and salty combo in a less high class, but utterly delicious, form.

I have to say, these cookies have it all. Chocolate, peanut butter and flaky buttery crackers enrobed in a sweet brown sugar caramel, these are cookies people will request again and again. The crackers provide a light crunch that is utterly addictive, reminiscent of a twix bar. I had to share these cookies quickly or we would have eaten the whole batch. These cookies would be a welcome gift or addition to any holiday party. That being said, these no-bake cookies are also perfect for summer when it is too hot to turn on the oven. No matter what time of year you serve these there is sure to be nothing left but crumbs.

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Ingredients & Quantities

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1 cup (7.5 oz) white sugar 3/4 cup (6 oz) packed brown sugar 3/4 cup (6 oz) margarine, cubed 1/3 cup (2.7 oz) non-dairy milk of choice 1 box Ritz style buttery crackers (about 80 crackers, I used Paskez Snackers to keep these parve) 1 1/2 cups (9 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 1/4 cups peanut butter

Cooking Instructions

In a large saucepan, combine the cracker crumbs, sugars, margarine, and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir continuously for about 5 minutes more.

Grease a 9×13 pan and line with a parchment sleeve. Place a single layer of Ritz crackers along the bottom of the pan. Top with half of the graham cracker crumb mixture. Top with half of the remaining crackers, then the remaining graham cracker crumb mixture. Top with the another layer of crackers.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave on low, stopping to stir occasionally. Do not over cook or the chocolate will burn. Pour over the crackers and refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Recipe Times

Prep

5 Minutes

Cook

5 Minutes

Total

N/A

Recipe Yield

36 bars

Recipe Categories

13 Comments

  1. We go through snacker-loving stages in my house, but we never quite make it through the 3-pack boxes. I always have one pack sitting in my pantry for ages. I love what you did with these – definitely going to give this a try.

    • There are quite a few brands of dairy-free chocolate. One brand of chips that is easily available is the Enjoy Life brand. The trader joes chocolate chips are dairy-free but they are packaged on equipment that packages dairy chips so they are not labeled as dairy free (or parve) but if that is not of concern to you they do not have any dairy ingredients. You can also chop up a bar of dairy free chocolate in place of the chips. For dairy-free chocolate I like scharffen berger or Callbeaut, but the callbeaut is harder to find unless you buy in bulk. Whole Foods brand has a dairy free dark chocolate bar as well. There are other brands as well, but those are my favorite. Hope that helps.

  2. These sound so good! What kind of peanut butter do you like to use? I am assuming that it is better to use something like Skippy rather than a natural peanut butter for this – but let me know what you use.
    Thanks!

    • I use Skippy Natural Peanut Butter for these bars. It has some added sugar and fat so it is creamy like regular peanut butter instead of runny like many of the natural peanut butters. If you want to use a natural peanut butter I would use a bit less because it might be too liquid-y otherwise. If you try it let me know!

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