By Kevin Williams
It's not uncommon to see Amish cooks reaching for favorite candies to further jazz up a cookie or bar. M&Ms are a favorite in Amish kitchens, but so are Reese's candies, Snickers, and Milky Ways. SIGH, the Amish diet used to be so unprocessed, so locavore, but societal changes in the last half of the 20th century definitely brought the "darker side" of the supermarket into the Amish diet. But, geez, if Reese's Cups are the "dark side" of the supermarket, then call me Darth Vader, because I love that sort of stuff.
The building blocks of these amazing bars!
Mmmmm, heaven in a pan!
Anyway, make some of these, put them in a colorful tin and give them away as Christmas gifts. Or just eat them yourself. Or do both. Either way, these are amazing! (I know, I sampled some. Our friend Jessica made these and, wow, they were super!)
2 sticks butter 1 cup, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
13-16 ounces miniature Snickers bars , unwrapped (of course) or 13 mini Reese's cups.
Using a hard wooden spoon (or you can cheat and use a mixer) cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs until well combined, then add in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy . In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir (or mix) until evenly mixed. Cover the dough and chill for 2 to 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Turn the dough - reserving roughly a quarter of it - into two lightly greased 8 X 8 pans and then press down Reese's cups into the dough in even intervals. Crumble remaining dough on top of the mixture
Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, or until the edges are set and the bars seem done. Let the bars cool completely before cutting and transferring to a cookie jar or other air tight, room temperature storage.
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