Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

There are major perks to being an elementary school teacher that go beyond the joy I get from teaching.

Perhaps the biggest is that you have regular access to Girl Scout cookies. Take this box of Tagalongs, for example.

They've been sitting on my dresser for two weeks now.

The box is still sealed. It has to be.

I'm worried that if I open them, I'll devour them all.

Chocolate and peanut butter are my weakness, but I'm not telling all of you anything new.

It's not my fault. I think it's in my DNA.

I've been a fan of chocolate and peanut butter for as long as I can remember.

I can't even resist this chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I ate it every day on the beach in Florida a few spring breaks ago, even though it was voted the most unhealthy supermarket ice cream. My version of unhealthy is a bit different than their's. I think the ice creams with all the artificial ingredients are the unhealthy ones, and that this one is just about perfect.

But I digress.

These chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars are the actual reason I didn't open the Tagalongs. With these around, the Tagalongs just weren't as tempting.

The base has chocolate wafer cookies and peanut butter, topped with a layer of semi-sweet chocolate and drizzled with more peanut butter and milk chocolate.

Cut them into small pieces. Immediately bring them somewhere. Far from your house.

(Leave a few at home for yourself.)


Chocolate and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

This recipe yields about 24 bars.

Ingredients
9 ounces chocolate wafter cookies, about 40 wafers
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
2 ounces milk chocolate, melted

Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides so the bars can be lifted out easily.

Process the wafer cookies in the food processor until they are finely ground. Combine wafers, oats, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the chunky peanut butter and 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter to the saucepan, whisking until well combined. Add the peanut butter mixture to the wafer mixture, stirring until combined.

Transfer to a baking dish. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to firmly press the peanut butter/oat mixture into a smooth layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt the semisweet chocolate, and pour it over the chilled bars. Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate in a thin layer that covers the entire surface. Refrigerate until hardened, at least 15 minutes.

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter in a small saucepan until runny. Drizzele peanut butter over the chilled chocolate. Melt the milk chocolate, and drizzle it over the peanut butter. Refrigerate until hardened, at least 15 minutes.

Use the parchment paper to lift the chilled block of bars out of the pan. Slice them into squares. Let the bars stand at room temperature for a few minutes before serving. They can be kept refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month.