Recipe: Peanut butter squares (Nigella Lawson)

Are you a fan of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? We adore them tiny morsels, and according to Nigella, these peanut butter squares are homespun versions of them. Reading that convinced me to make these as a treat for the kids.

Peanut butter squares... what's not to love?

These are really easy to put together - Baby D operated the mixer for the base, poured it into the tin, mummy melted the chocolate topping, and Baby D poured it on top of the base. The mix then goes into the fridge to allow it to set before cutting. It really is as simple as that.

I did find it a little difficult to cut them into neat squares - am not sure if this is a result of me reducing the icing sugar content. A tip is to cut the peanut butter base first before the chocolate topping. It keeps well in the fridge, but they were all gone in a few days as a certain someone kept opening the fridge at night and popping a few of these in her mouth. ;D

Now we can make our own versions of Peanut Butter Cups at home ;)

Happy kids with their treats

Who's the "little mouse" that eats all the peanut butter squares when everyone else is in bed?

Peanut butter squares
Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Makes 49

Ingredients
For the base:
Scant 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups icing sugar (I reduced it to 3/4 cup)
Scant 1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp smooth creamy peanut butter (unsweetened)

For the topping:
310g semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter

1. Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. You can use the paddle attachment in your mixer or a wooden spoon and bowl will do the job as well.

Kids love operating the mixer! Teach them numbers (on the speed controller) at the same time

2. Press the sandy mixture into the 9-inch square pan (greased with butter or line it with greaseproof paper) and make the surface as even as possible.

3. To make the topping, put the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl and microwave for only a minute or two to melt. Or you can melt it in a saucepan over medium low heat. Spread on the base and put the tin in the fridge to set.

4. When the chocolate has hardened cut into mini squares (7x7). It is quite rich, hence a little at a time is just nice. Love it with a glass of cold milk or a cup of tea.

Note: I reduced the icing sugar from 1 1/3 cups to 3/4 cups, not sure if this affected the texture of the peanut butter base making it a bit more difficult to cut into. Anyhow, 3/4 cups was sufficiently sweet enough for us.

Tip: We found it easier to cut it if we took out the whole thing, inverted it (so the peanut butter faces upwards) and cut through the peanut butter base first before the chocolate.

*I am submitting this to the "Cook Like a Star" event (Nigella Lawson) event hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking. Visit any of the host's blog and link your Nigella recipes there.


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