Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Bars
A good bar cookie for bake sales and group events, adapted from King Arthur Flour's Ruth Wakefield's Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, but with peanut butter chips. There's no peanut butter in the dough, so if you'd like to skip the peanut butter theme, just use a different flavor of chocolate chips.
Servings 36 bars
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (weigh out 320 grams for best results) (320 grams)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups light brown sugar (very tightly packed) (504 grams)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semisweet)
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts
- ½ cup M&Ms mini baking bits (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 10x15 inch jelly roll pan with baking spray. For thicker bars, you may use a 9x13 inch pan and bake for about 30 minutes (possibly slightly longer).
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine the hot melted butter and brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. If using vanilla, add that too.
- Stir in the flour mixture. Make sure the mixture is cool, then add the chips and nuts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. If using M&Ms you can add them with the other chips or sprinkle them on top.
- Bake the bars for 24 to 26 minutes, until their top is shiny and golden. Don’t overbake (I slightly underbaked mine) or the bars will be dry; a cake tester inserted into the center will not come out clean. Remove the bars from the oven and cool to room temperature before cutting. Note: If baking in a 9x13 inch pan, the bars will take about 30 to 35 minutes.
Notes
It's best to weigh the flour for these old King Arthur recipes., as their cups of flour tend to be light and fluffy. For instance, this recipe calls for 2 ¾ cup of flour and a weight of 320 grams. That means each up of flour weighs 116 grams. I rarely if ever have a cup of flour that weighs 116 grams. The range is usually 125 to 140, so I've adjusted the volume amount to 2 ½ cups to equal 320. For best results, just weigh out 320 grams.