Loaded with peanut butter, peanut butter cups and chocolate!! Soft, gooey and totally irresistible! Everything's better with peanut butter cups!!
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Additional Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Bars & Blondies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate and peanut butter desserts, peanut butter chocolate chip bars, peanut butter cup bars, reese's peanut butter bars
Servings: 12
Calories: 366kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
½cupunsalted butter1 stick, melted
⅓heaping cup peanut butterI use Jif, Skippy or similar; natural PB can separate and/or be too oily
1large egg
1cuplight brown sugarpacked
1tablespoonvanilla extract
1cupall-purpose flour
½cupsemi-sweet chocolate chipsplus more for sprinkling on top
about 16 miniature peanut butter cupsunwrapped (not to be confused with the smallest size that come unwrapped called ‘minis’)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
To a large, microwave-safe bowl add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute.
Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the peanut butter, egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
Evenly distribute the peanut butter cups over the surface of the batter, pushing each cup down as far as it will go.
Evenly sprinkle the surface with additional chocolate chips, about 1 tablespoon.
Bake for about 22 to 25 minutes, or until done. If you can find a chocolate chip-free patch to test, a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Notes
Bars are best fresh but will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temp or up to 4 months in the freezer.