Sunday, June 29, 2014

The Best Thing Ever Introduced to Public School Lunches

My parents did not give me school lunch money after 7th grade. I was responsible for either packing my own lunch, using my own money to buy school lunch, or going without for the day. I usually packed my lunch, but there was one item that you always had to get if they were serving, especially since they were only around once a month:

PEANUT. BUTTER. BARS.

You see the lunch lady bring out a tray of these and the Gods are smiling down on you. You try and get the best piece available but know that no matter what piece you get is going to be the upmost delicious thing you've had in a month. You savor it, and wish they would come more often.

As a fellow baker, I've looked for copycat recipes and tried my own concoctions to recreate this beloved childhood favorite. I've had some that are not even close...some that were close but not close enough, and then this one. And...I've found it.

I believe this is the third recipe I tried. The simplicity of it makes me wonder where I could have gone wrong in the previous ones, but the taste test holds true: They taste exactly the same.

I found this recipe on Pinterest. She claimed that they tasted like Reese's Cups...but obviously she either had not tasted the actual peanut butter bars, or she was mixing up childhood memories. Either way, I saw everything and decided to give it a try. I have made only a few tweaks, but this recipe is pretty darn close.

Ingredients
1 cup butter melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (use the boxed kind, or grind them in a food processor. Tiny granules.)
2 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
1 cup peanut butter

For the Frosting
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
peanut butter to taste

Some notes about the ingredients:

-Definitely make sure you use actual BUTTER. Using margarine will not yield the same delicious results (Will probably not hold/set as well).

-I used the Keebler boxed graham cracker crumbs. At first I thought they weren't fine enough, but they are actually quite perfect. I also had another 1/4 cup of the crumbs set aside to help the consistency of the peanut butter part.

-Water displacement is your friend

-I used Toll House Semisweet chocolate chips, Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, and Peter Pan peanut butter.
Directions


In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate and peanut butter chips, stirring occasionally until smooth. Add peanut butter as desired. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.



Some notes on the directions:

-Please feel free to use a fork, there's no need to whip out the electric mixer for this.

-You want the concoction to be completely mixed, however be able to pick up with hand and mold without leaving a complete mess. Like you could roll in a ball and make chunky peanut butter cookies. This is where the 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs will come in handy if it's too wet.

-I used a 9x9 glass Pyrex pan. These ratios fit fine without it being too full or thick.

-The frosting is what I changed most from the recipe. I think the original recipe's chocolate made it more like Reese's Cups, but this is closer to what the schools had. If you're using the double boiler to melt the chocolate...congratulations, you're an overachiever. I put the chips in another Pyrex bowl and microwaved them in 30 second increments, stirring after each time (I've burnt chocolate in the microwave enough times not to do more than that). I believe I ended up adding about a tablespoon of peanut butter after that. You want the bitterness of the semi-sweet chocolate to be cut by the peanut butter. It should be a nice light brown color when you're done.

I waited the hour (longest hour of my LIFE) and cut the squares. The taste test was definitely worth the wait. I was surprised how spot on things were! If there was ever a moment of life achievement, that was it. I proceeded to share with my sister and a coworker, who were also crying with delight that was the heavens in their mouths.




As you can see, they're almost gone. After less than 24 hours. Luckily my aversion to chocolate doesn't have me eating a lot, but my sister on the other hand...

Accommodations

The big thing these days is to see what substitutions you can get away with. This is going to have to be someone else's experiment, because I am absolutely terrible at substitutions going successfully. But this is by no means healthy for you (except for letting your childhood rest in peace of course). I mean, two cups of powdered sugar...because that's healthy. However, things I'm wondering:

-What can we use instead of butter? I'm curious how Greek Yogurt or Applesauce would affect the results.

-Would the more natural/healthy nut butters (almond butter for example) give a similar if not better result?

-What about finely processed granola? Or oats?


I do like how easy the ratios are for the current recipe. This could probably very easily be converted into a one serving thing to ease the guilt in our consciences (like a microwave mug minus the microwaving). But if you were making these for a larger crowd it would be simple to convert.

I'd love to hear about any success stories! Let me know if your taste buds have been saved as mine have :)

Friday, June 27, 2014

Oops

Obligatory post so that I don't miss a month.

I have I think three blog drafts. One is extremely personal so it's taking forever to get the right feeling to post. Another is very very personal to the point of I doubt I'll ever post, and the third is one I started when I was half asleep and just haven't gotten around to finishing. Some updates:

Rachel came to live with me this summer

I am staying at Perry Meridian High School to teach ENL

My roommate got a dog that I continuously have a love-hate relationship with

My quest to eliminate all dangling prepositions from my written and spoken language is not succeeding