Nutter Butter Bars

Is it fall yet? It’s officially September, kids are getting back to school, and stores are filled with Halloween items, so we must be there! While I do enjoy the light flavors of summer, fruits, berries, and that sort of thing, I LOVE fall and fall baking. Cinnamon, apples, spices, maple- here I come! This cookie, made with Nutter Butter/peanut butter, is a transition.

Ok, I just like Nutter Butter cookies, and this was an excuse to buy them at the store. The recipe uses about 10 cookies (depending on how many you use for the topping) so there are plenty left. I didn’t change this recipe much, but the original recipe had you brown the butter before making the bars, and I didn’t do that. I was more interested in the Nutter Butter flavor rather than browning the butter, but I am sure that would be excellent if you want to take that time.

I likely didn’t use ½ cup of chips. I was going to use mini chips, but I didn’t have any, which was odd. I used the last bit of a bag of regular-sized chips, but it was probably about 1/3 cup. I really need to inventory and stock up on chocolate chips! The dough is quite sticky, so do your best in smoothing this into an even layer. My hands, slightly damp, worked their best to move the dough around. These baked well, and they have a lovely peanut butter flavor. I don’t taste the chocolate much, but I didn’t use the full amount of chocolate chips.

Nutter Butter Bars
½ cup butter, room temperature
¼ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup (128 grams) peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
7 Nutter Butter cookies, chopped
½ cup chocolate chips
Additional chopped Nutter Butters

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8” square baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter on medium until combined. Stir in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour and salt. When the flour is nearly incorporated into the dough, add the chopped Nutter Butters and chocolate chips. Stir for a moment to distribute the add-ins.

Spread the dough in the prepared pan and smooth the top as much as possible. Top the dough with additional chopped Nutter Butter cookies.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the bars brown along the edges. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for an hour before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Lifestyle of a Foodie