Did someone say true love? Because these bars are truly the way to my heart. These chocolate peanut bars are extremely fun to make and utilise my absolute favourite ingredient, peanut butter! They are incredibly rich in flavour and indulgent in sweetness and chocolate...which let's be honest the tastiest things in life are. The filling is similar to a cheesecake, while the structure draws on the mighty millionaires shortbread. They have received the seal of approval by my friends who finished them all during my most recent Christmas party (sorry Santa, none to share). So, what are you waiting for? Whip these up for a show stopping crowd pleaser.
Makes: 16 Large Bars| Total Time: 7 Hours (including chilling time) | Difficulty: Hard
Ingredients: (for the base)
350g mix of Oreos and Digestive biscuits Oreos
100g unsalted butter, melted
Ingredients: (for the peanut cheesecake filling)
750g full-fat cream cheese
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/8 tsp salt
60g plain greek yoghurt
250g smooth peanut butter (try using a version like Skippy for the best results)
3 eggs
50g crushed peanuts
Ingredients: (for the chocolate coating)
100g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
75g unsalted butter
Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C fan. Place baking parchment into a 9x13-inch baking tin. Ensure some baking parchment will be left above the bars for you to lift the finished bars out.
To make the base, place the Oreos and Digestive biscuits into a ziplock bag. Seal tightly and gently crush the biscuits using a rolling pin until it resembles fine crumbs.
Add in the melted butter and stir. Pour the mixture into the baking tin. You will need to press the mixture out to fill the pan and ensure the base is tightly sealed. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside.
For the peanut cheesecake middle, beat together the cream cheese and sugar for approximately 3 minutes until smooth. Next, beat in the vanilla essence and salt for a further minute. Finally, add the greek yoghurt and peanut butter and beat for another 3 minutes until everything is combined.
Next, fold in the crushed peanuts. Then, pour the filling onto the pre-baked biscuit base. Using a spatula, spread the mixture evenly to make sure all the bars are roughly the same thickness.
Return the baking tin to the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the top of the filling begins to slightly set. The filling will sink slightly once removed from the oven.
To make the topping, simply melt the chocolate and butter together using a bain-marie or in bursts in the microwave. If you use the microwave make sure to check and stir the chocolate and butter frequently.
Briefly, cool the chocolate topping so it is not boiling and then gently pour it over the peanut filling. Make sure the chocolate is evenly coated over the top.
The bars now need to set in the fridge for at least 1 hour so the topping can set. You can rest the bars overnight, however make sure to cover the baking tin if you do with tinfoil.
When fully set, slice the bars evenly and serve.
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