No Bake Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars

So I've come to the conclusion that I've recently been cheating on my oven... A friend of mine suggested this on facebook, and as I thought more about it, I realized she is right! A few of my recent recipes have not involved baking. What is this Baking Barbershop coming to?! I may need to change the title of my blog or start only posting recipes that I bake... OR, I could just continue as I'm doing and post all types of recipes. I think I'll go with the last choice. :)

I was craving some time in the kitchen to make a dessert. But, as is typical for me these days, I didn't have a ton of time. So I thought what better solution than to make no bake bars! They generally do not take nearly as long as baked desserts do. A few years ago a former coworker, Kristi, made these peanut butter rice krispie bars, and I had a fond recollection of their deliciousness...and I also had a vague memory of her sending me the recipe at the time. Luckily, I was right, and I was able to find the recipe in my inbox! I am a little ashamed to say though that the recipe was sent to me almost FOUR years ago! I got the recipe from my coworker on February 27th in 2006...and I have yet to make them! Shame on me. These are delicious and should have been made long before now!

I know I've said this before about other flavor combinations too...but can you ever go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate? Definitely not. It's always a winner in my book. These no bake bars only require five ingredients. Another plus! And from start to finish (minus the cooling time and clean up time), they only took about 15 minutes. I see no reason why you should not make these yourself! ;-)

Here are the ingredients:

-1 cup white sugar

-1 cup light corn syrup

-1 and 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

-5 cups Rice Krispies

-12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease a 13 x 9 dish. In a saucepan on the stove, combine the sugar and corn syrup over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for about 45 seconds and then remove from heat. Add in the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Mix the peanut butter "sauce" with the Rice Krispies until they are well coated. Be careful here; the mixture gets sticky! Spread the mixture evenly, with the back of a greased spoon, in your prepared 13 x 9 pan. In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and spread over the top of the peanut butter mixture in the pan. Cool at room temperature; do not refrigerate. Cut into bars and enjoy! These can be stored at room temperature, covered tightly. The chocolate topping will harden as the bars sit. I actually recommend melting an individual bar for like 8 or 10 seconds in the microwave before you eat it so that the chocolate melts a bit.... Delicious!

Okay, now I have an odd confession to make. I love melting chocolate. That is my confession. For some reason, in recipes where I need to melt chocolate, I find it to be incredibly relaxing and enjoyable. Below are three pictures of the process this time around. I generally melt chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals, stirring each time before microwaving again. When the consistency gets to be like the picture on the right, I am always tempted to take a taste... Doesn't it look so yummy? I know it's kind of weird, but it's true. I love melting chocolate.

Alrightie, that's my only baking confession for this post. Stay tuned for more next time. ;-)