An Inspired Cook

I was in New Mexico over Halloween this year leaving Joe to take over the job of handing out candy for the trick or treaters.  I asked him to save any leftover Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups so that I might bake a batch of cookies.  It was a light crowd so he had plenty of candy left over.  I know he had to use all his willpower not eat those Reese’s, but to his credit he hid them away in the freezer until I got home.  After thinking about it I decided cookie bars were the way to go.  I found a great recipe from “Mom On Time Out” that sounded so good I just had to try it out.  For all the peanut butter lovers, these bars are for you!

You’ll need butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, 2 eggs, vanilla, flour, old fashioned oats, baking powder, salt, peanut butter chips and Reese’s peanut butter cups.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and creamy.

Add the peanut butter and mix together.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Next comes a splash of vanilla.

Combine the flour, oats and salt in a bowl.  Then begin adding to the creamed mixture a little at a time, beating after each addition until all the flour mixture has been incorporated.

Once all the flour has been incorporated, stir in the peanut butter chips.

Freezing the peanut butter cups ahead makes them easier to chop.  I roughly chopped enough to make 2 cups.  Doesn’t matter whether you use full size or mini’s just keep chopping and adding to the measuring cup until you have 2 cups.

Begin spreading the batter into a buttered 9 x 11 baking dish.

Spread about 2/3 of the batter and reserve the rest for the top.

Sprinkle the 2 cups of chopped peanut butter cups over the batter.

Begin dropping dollops of the remaining dough over top of the peanut butter cups.

Doesn’t that look good and it hasn’t even gone in the oven yet!  Time to put it in a preheated oven to bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

They come out of the oven lightly browned on top.

Cool completely, then dig in!





Reese’s Cookie Bars (adapted from Mom On Time Out “Reese’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars”)

1 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter, creamy or crunchy
2 Eggs
1 tablespoon Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Peanut Butter Baking Chips
2 cups Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, set aside.

In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar.  Mix in peanut butter.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix well.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.  Begin adding the flour mix to the creamed mixture a little at a time, beating after each addition until all the flour mixture has been incorporated.  Stir in the peanut butter chips.

Spread 2/3 of the dough onto the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.  Begin dropping dollops of the remaining dough over top of the peanut butter cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.