Lunch Ladies Peanut Butter Bars Recipes

Steps:

• Bars:.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
• Mix together dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Whisk together ½ cup milk, vanilla extract, eggs. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, melt 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter and 1 cup peanut butter, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and slowly add flour mixture, followed by milk and egg mixture. Mix until well combined.
• Pour batter onto cookie sheet, spreading batter evenly to edges. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
• Frosting:.
• In a saucepan, bring 1 stick butter and ½ cup peanut butter to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons milk and slowly mix in powdered sugar until well combined. Pour frosting over cake, spreading evenly to edges. Allow frosting to cool and set before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar together.
• Add vanilla, eggs, and 1 cup of the peanut butter; stir to combine.
• Add oats, flour, baking soda and salt and mix until well combined.
• Spray a baking sheet (half sheet jelly roll pan that is approximately 17.8 x 12.8 x 1 inch) with nonstick cooking spray and spread out dough in an even layer.
• Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven.
• Drop remaining peanut butter (about 1 1/2 cups) by very small spoonfuls (we use a baby spoon) all over on top of warm bars. Let set for about 5-6 minutes and gently spread when peanut butter has begun to melt. It will spread easily when the peanut butter has softened on the warm bars. Don't try to spread it while still thick.
• Then let the bars cool until peanut butter has set up.
• While cooling, mix together frosting ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth and spread on top of bars.
• Cut into bars and serve.

Steps:

• Note - for the right kind of peanut butter and frosting see my notes at the bottom of the directions.
• Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease or spray an 18x12 inch pan (also called a half sheet pan.).
• Cream the two sugars and butter together for a couple of minutes until light and creamed.
• Add the vanilla, eggs and first noted peanut butter and blend into the sugar/butter mixture until smooth.
• In a separate bowl mix together the oats, flour, baking soda and salt then mix into the wet just until combined, don't over mix or you'll get a tough cookie.
• Spread this out evenly onto the prepared pan.
• Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean but the cookie should be set up.
• Let the cookie stand about 5 minutes before spreading on the second noted creamy peanut butter on top. You want to spread it on carefully so you don't rip the cookie apart. This is also why you wait a few minutes before putting it on.
• Cool the cookie completely so that the peanut butter has become solid again then spread frosting on top and let it set up so it will hold up to cutting and then cut into bars. Traditionally the cookie was about 4 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. (Natural/organic peanut butter will not set up solid for this to work.).
• Notes: (the first update was about ten to fifteen years after originally posting. Another update in 2020 - a few more questions I realized I did not write in correctly and some clarification that 20 year old me who'd never written up a recipe for others forgot to add. I'll get there eventually.):.
• * PEANUT BUTTER - it has to be the hydrogenated kind just the simple cheap stuff. Do not use organic or natural its not the same taste, and it doesn't harden up like the cheaper stuff does.
• * FROSTING - You can make a regular chocolate buttercream frosting, which is what is in the photo. But the frosting in the container off the shelf will work just as well.