Chocolate Peanut Buddy Bars

Peanut butter and chocolate in bar form, baked in a 13×9 pan and cut into small squares. The base is a thick, chewy peanut butter cookie dough loaded with chocolate chips, and the top gets a smooth, shiny chocolate layer made by scattering more chips on the hot bars and spreading them as they melt.

No mixer required for the batter. Blend the peanut butter and softened butter by hand until smooth, then stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. The flour amount is intentionally low, which is why these bars stay dense and fudgy rather than cakey.

Pull them from the oven when the edges just start to brown. The center will still look slightly underdone. That’s right. They firm up as they cool, and overbaking turns them dry and crumbly.

Pro Tips

• Use creamy peanut butter, not natural or chunky. Natural peanut butter has too much oil separation and the bars won’t hold together as well.
• Scatter the remaining chips over the surface immediately when the pan comes out. Wait too long and the bars cool enough that the chips won’t melt smoothly.
• Let the chips sit for a full 5 minutes before spreading. If you rush it, you’ll drag the chips around instead of getting a smooth layer.
• Cool completely before cutting. These bars are soft when warm and will fall apart if you cut too early.

Variations

• Use milk chocolate chips for the topping and semi-sweet in the batter for two layers of chocolate flavor.
• Press chopped peanuts or crushed pretzels into the melted chocolate topping before it sets.
• Swap peanut butter for almond butter or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version.