Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

By Ksteve10

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cs plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 TBSP (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1/2 c commercial (not generic) smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c plus 2 TBSP lightly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temp
• 1/2 c milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 c M&M's (if not using, increase chips to 1 cup)

Details

Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 60mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 11x7 inch (NOT 9x13) baking pan with butter or cooking spray.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream the butter, peanut butter, both sugars,and the vanilla until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 mins. Stop the mixer the scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until partially blended after each addition, about 10 secs. After the last addition, beat until blended, about 30 seconds, stopping the mixer twice to scrape the bowl.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix with a spatula until the flour is absorbed. Then mix on low speed until blended, 7 to 10 secs. Scrape the bowl, especially the bottom.

6. Add the chocolate chips and M&M's and blend for several seconds. Scrape the bowl. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

7. Bake the bars on the center oven rack until the edges are deep golden and the center is slightly puffy, 25 to 30 mins. The center will drop when the bars are taken out of the oven, creating a chewy texture.

**It's very important that you measure your flour out for this recipe very carefully and use name brand peanut butter, they won't come out right otherwise.