Jordan and I always have a pretty good candy stash. You would think that we eat a ton of candy, but we really don’t. Jordan is pretty picky about his candy and will only eat it while it’s really fresh. Once it’s been opened for a few days (even if it’s individually wrapped), he won’t touch it. He’s a stickler for freshness! While I love chocolate, I prefer non-chocolate candies (sour punch straws, jelly beans, hot tamales, etc). I can’t let all that chocolate candy go to waste though, so I’ll often toss it into cookies or brownies – perfect solution! That’s exactly how these Snickers Peanut Butter Squared Cookie Bars came about. I really wanted to make some peanut butter cookies with chopped snickers peanut butter squared pieces, but I was tired so I make cookie bars instead. I don’t see how individual cookies could have been any tastier =). Peanut butter cookie dough loaded with chopped snickers peanut butter squared pieces….sooo good (and easy)! Jordan couldn’t even tell that the snickers weren’t super fresh ;). Enjoy!
Snickers Peanut Butter Squared Cookie Bars
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
9 fun-sized peanut butter snickers squared, cut into 1/4ths
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. In bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and continue mixing. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
3. Add the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt to the butter mixture. Mix on low just until combined – being careful not to overmix.
4. Spread about half of the dough on the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with snickers. Drop remaining dough on top of snickers. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it won’t cover all the Snickers.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 27 to 29 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool and cut into 12 bars.
*adapted from Mom on Timeout
Nutrtional info (per 1/12th): 295 calories; 14.3 g fat; 38.5 g carbohydrates; 1.4 g fiber; 4.6 g protein.
