Chocolate Peanut Squares

I have been falling a bit behind on my cooking, I blame my current class! To be short, it sucks and makes me want to do bad things! But I have been trying new things weekly and using the recipes I have already tried again. Definitely progress! So the kitchen sorcery continues with Chocolate Peanut Squares! I had tried rice krispie treats earlier in the week, so when his recipe called for more krispie crunchiness, I at least had some idea as to how to handle it! Here's the recipe...

Chocolate Peanut Squares

1/2 Cup smooth peanut butter (make sure yours wasn't recalled please!)

1/3 Cup light corn syrup

1/3 Cup of honey (honey comes out slow, just wait for it.....)

1/2 Cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

1/4 Cup light brown sugar

3 Cups of miniature marshmallows (this is less than the whole bag, so good ahead, eat a few!)

1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 Cups of crisp rice cereal (again, less than the whole box...make some regular rice krispie treats too if you like, you've already got the ingredients!)

1 Cup peanuts

Topping:

8 Ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chips, way easier!)

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

So here's what you do....

1. Butter or lightly spray with non-stick vegetable spray, an 8x8 pan. Set aside.
2. Place the peanut butter, corn syrup, honey, cocoa powder, and light brown sugar in a large sauce pan. Place over medium high heat and bring this mixture to a boil. You need to stir this pretty consistently and watch the heat, it will burn on the bottom if you you're not careful!
3. Reduce heat to low, add the marshmallows, and stir constantly until mixture is melted and smooth. I love the way it looks when the marshmallows melt, like rocky road!
4. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, rice cereal and peanuts. Press this mixture into the prepared pan and allow to set. The best way I have found to "press into the pan" is using a greased spoon. It doesn't stick to the spoon so you can actually even out the mixture!
5. Topping: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the squares and refrigerate until chocolate has set. Cut into squares with a sharp knife. So I used a glass bowl over a large sauce pan, that worked out well. The part about the sharp knife is no joke! It took some serious work to cut this stuff into squares! I had to use 3 knives before I found one that took less effort, still no easy, but better.
6. Serve cold or room temp. I had them both ways, cold is nice because the chocolate on top is less messy, and its nice to have a cool snack on a warm day!

So I had fun with this one, and I made such a mess....cocoa power, peanut butter, and rice krispies everywhere! But it turned out really well. I would make it again, but probably when I had more time. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish, with 5 minutes just to cut it up! These are good though, if you love chocolate, you'll be in heaven!

Recipe and picture courtesy of JoyofBaking.com. But really mine came out more like fancy rice krispie treats, the ones below look like there's no krispie crunchiness and way more peanuts!