Peanut butter squares

After making Oatmeal raisin cookies AND Hummingbird cupcakes, I hadn't really planned on making another sweet snack, but unfortunately for me, the cookies and the cupcakes disappeared rather fast. How is that even possible, you might well ask... I mean, 36 cookies and 24 cupcakes for a family of four people.... it's absured... But rest assured, I gave a lot away to the neighbors and a friend of my youngest girl who spend the afternoon playing at our house.

So this afternoon I was really craving something sweet (in my defense...I quit smoking a few weeks ago). But I wasn't really looking forward to complicated or having to go to the supermarket. So I had a good thought and remembered a simple recipe by the lovely Nigella Lawson from her book: How to be a domestic goddess. The peanut butter squares. I had never made these before but peanut butter and chocolate is a combination that can't go wrong.

The recipe is incredibly simple. I had a little trouble with waiting until everything had cooled enough, but after cutting off a small portion I put it back in the refrigerator where it then had enough time to properly set.

Please, please, please try this recipe, it's simple, it's yummy, it's chocolate, what more could a girl ask for?

Recipe

Peanut Butter Squares

Yield: 48 pieces

Ingredients:

Base:

50 grams (scant 1/4 cup) dark brown sugar

200 grams (1 1/3 cup) confectioners' sugar

50 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

200 grams (heaping 1/4 cup) peanut butter

Chocolate layer:

200 grams (7 ounce) milk chocolate

100 grams (3,5 ounce) bittersweet chocolate

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions:

Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. You can use the flat beater of your mixer or just stir everything by hand. The dark brown sugar will still be visible (tiny grains or small lumps) but that's no problem, don't worry about it.

Press the mixture in a 9-inch brownie pan, already covered with parchment paper. Try to make the surface flat (I failed miserably as you can see in the photograph).

For the chocolate layer, melt the two types of chocolate together with the butter. You can do this au-bain-marie or just stick everything in the microwave. Spread the chocolate-mixture on top of the base.

Put it in the refrigerator to set. Try to wait until it is properly set (unlike me) and THEN you can cut it into small squares. And although it is tempting to cut large squares, it is rather a rich treat, so please try to restrain yourself and cut small squares.

Enjoy!