Peanut Buckeye Bars

When I first started baking, I can’t say I was very familiar with Buckeye candy. Online it says that it’s peanut butter fudge partially covered with chocolate, and they come from Ohio, hence “Buckeyes.” I have made all sorts of chocolate and peanut butter combinations, but only one other time have a made something called a buckeye, and that was a thumbprint cookie. Maybe the Ohio nomenclature never made it to Washington State, but I am happy to make anything chocolate and peanut butter.

This is an interesting bar cookie, with a chocolate brownie layer, topped with a peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture. It calls for roasted peanuts, and my parents had a big jar of them so I asked if I could have a cup and a half. That saved me from buying them, but thankfully they are easy to find at the store. The recipe also called for chunky peanut butter but use whatever you have on hand.

These don’t take much time to make, but both the base and the topping are sticky and difficult to spread. The base is ok, and I wet my hands slightly to help. The sweetened condensed milk/peanut butter topping is sticky as can be, so I made little dollops and then spread it as best I could. I baked the bars for 38 minutes, and they were quite browned, so certainly you need to watch the baking time for these. I thought they looked a touch dry, but they were just wonderful, even along the edges. I would make these again but watch the time more closely.

Peanut Buckeye Bars
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts, divided
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add eggs and butter and mix on medium until fully combined. Stir in 1 cup peanuts. Spread the dough into the prepared pan. The dough is sticky, so you may need to use damp hands to get the dough into the corners of the pan.

In a separate mixer bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Mix on medium until smooth. Spoon on to the brownie base in little dallops and then spread into an even layer. This is very sticky and takes some patience to get the topping spread out evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup roasted peanuts.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping begins to brown slightly. Allow the bars to cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting into bars.

Recipe from Heather at Sprinkle Bakes, via Go Bold with Butter