No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bar

Okay, so what do you do when you really want dessert but it is already 9:00 p.m.? You search for a quick recipe! I found a recipe I had in my files from Baking Blonde posted one year ago today (how weird is that?) No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars...chocolate, peanut butter, and no bake - check! Again, it is one of those recipes that I love because it uses only stuff we normally have on hand. It takes about ten minutes to put it all together and then you're supposed to chill it in your refrigerator for 2-3 hours. (You can cut that time by a lot if you just put it in the freezer--look, I wasn't going to let the kids stay up all night waiting for dessert...). This turned out to be a nice quick snack that took care of our sweet tooth with minimal effort. Really, what else do we want in a dessert?

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
found at Baking Blonde's blog and originally adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used 3/4 cup)

Directions:
1) Grease a 9×9 inch square pan.

2) Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Mix in the oats. Cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended.

3) Press half of mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. (I pressed 2/3 mixture in bottom of pan.) Reserve the remainder for topping.

4) Then melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust in the pan, and spread evenly with a knife or the back of a spoon.

5) Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently.

6) Cover, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. (Or you can just put them in the freezer for 60 minutes like we did!) Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.