11 April 2008

love bars

these peanut butter meet chocolate love bars are a new essential in life.
ready. set. go.

cream the butter & add sugar, then the eggs. (you know the drill.)





add peanut butter and vanilla. sift flour and measure. add gradually.



combine old-fashioned oats to the party.


mix it up 'til all the ingredients mingle and make friends.

optional: line 9x13 pan with foil and spray with pam. (makes cutting easy peasy.) spread cookie dough evenly into the pan. roll up your sleeves and use the palms of your hands to even out the lumps. place pan into pre-heated oven. and bake, but not as long as you might think.


when baking time is done, take a bag of chocolate chips and spread the chips evenly, all over the top and place back in oven (still warm, but off). leave the oven door open and watch those bad boys melt. then take out pan and spread with spatula. allow to cool for several hours.


after they are cool, pull them from the baking pan, easy peasy with the help of your friendly tin foil. place bars on cutting board. i always cut off the edges to make the bars nice and neat. my husband doesn't mind discarding those long tasty strips either. chop the rest into itty bitty bars to feed a lot or huge palm-sized bars to make mouths happy.


stack individual bars onto a fancy platter for adults, into lunch baggies for kids, in the freezer for safe keeping or paper plates for neighbors. enjoy. mmm. m. they are called love bars for good reason.


LOVE BARS

1/2 cup butter; softened

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
3 cups oats
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and peanut butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Press mixture evenly into pan and bake only 10 minutes or lightly browned (will be underbaked). While still warm, evenly distribute chocolate chips. When chips have melted, spread into a thin layer. Cool and enjoy!


20 comments:

mama jo said...

looks delicious....

Unknown said...

those do look rather essential. mmm.

Alicia said...

They look yummy & perfect for an upcoming birthday fete I'm attending. Do they firm up a bit in the cooling process or do you just like them a tad on the underdone side? Just curious...

Lindsey said...

Oh, these look FAR more healthy than the peanutbutter bars that I make. You can test taste for yourself though if you want, because these are some of my fav. too. I'll try yours if you try mine! :)

http://favoritefamilyfood.blogspot.com

Carrie @carrieloves said...

mmmmmm, love bars... those look great & I love the name.

Carrie @carrieloves said...

mmmmmm, love bars... those look great & I love the name.

marta said...

alicia, they actually do firm up quite nicely. especially if you leave them in the warm oven and let the chips melt as i discussed. just bake them and watch til they get a little golden brown, then they're ready. if they still jiggle in the middle, leave them in longer!

Anonymous said...

YUM! I am going to make them this weekend By husband is going to be sooooooo happy! Thanks marta!

love.boxes said...

OH delish!

Jessica said...

There are few tastes I love more the peanut butter and chocolate. I soon as I'm 14 weeks and want to enter a kitchen again...I'll be all over these.

jen v said...

great, i just gained 10 pounds

Unknown said...

i make the same sort of thing, except my recipe is a no-bake one - just peanut butter, icing sugar, butter.. mix it all up, then put in rice krispies & flatten into a pan, then spread the melted chocolate chips over and let the chocolate cool (i generally put it in the freezer 'cause i'm impatient!) then just slice + go! :) i'll have to try yours to see if there's any difference, but *arent they addictive*?!

KR said...

MMMM those look fabulous! Thanks for the recipe share! :)

Blessings
Kristin
http://homegrownrose.typepad.com/reclaimingthehome

Dansie Family said...

yum! are they in the gatherings cookbook? i may need to make these for dessert manana.

Pina said...

Thanks for sharing. I will certainly try these (love) ones soon.

Unknown said...

So glad I found your blog! So glad I found this recipe! Will be back soon...

Sharmyn said...

That has to be a Ward cookbook you are using. Ahh familiar Utah things-your blog makes me happy!

Design Scouting said...

you and your blog just make me so happy! xo Abbey

Moonchild Dancing! said...

Oh my! My husband would go nuts for these... nuts.. peanut.. haha. :) Great recipe. I shall try them this weekend! :D

Raya Carlisle said...

Yum! I've been making these since I was a kid : )

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