Thanks for all the birthday wishes to my 7 year old yesterday! I let him read my post from yesterday, and he got a huge smile on his face. He is shy, but loved being the center of attention for a day.
As promised today I bring you what he chose for his birthday treat. He isn’t much of a cake kid, so I knew that wouldn’t be his choice. I showed him probably 100 desserts from my Pinterest boards, and let him pick. He knew he wanted peanut butter and chocolate (takes after his mom), so at least we narrowed the choices a little. In the end, I think it was the Reese’s Pieces that won him over.
Unfortunately I waited until the last minute to make these, and the store I went to did not have mini Reese’s Pieces candies. So I had to go with the full sized version. I am sure they taste the same, you just don’t get the full “polka dot” effect. He had a tiny one after dinner last night, and said he made a good choice. Really, how can you go wrong with peanut butter, oats and chocolate? He picked his birthday dinner to be at Red Robin, and wanted them to sing to him this year, so he filled up on ice cream before we got home. Looks like the teachers or my husbands co-workers are going to benefit tomorrow 
Peanut Butter Polka Dot Bars
Slightly adapted from Aunt Nubby’s Kitchen
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Filling (recipe below)
1 package Reese’s Pieces Minis (regular size works too, about 1 1/2 cups)
Chocolate Filling
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa Powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 baking pan with foil, and spray with non stick spray.
In an electric mixer combine butter, peanut butter and brown sugar together. Mix until well combined. Add eggs, and vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk together oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. The dough will be very thick, and you may have to use your hands to fully incorporate the flour. Set aside 2 cups of dough. Press remaining dough into the prepared baking dish.
Prepare the chocolate filling. In a small sauce pan melt the butter. Over low heat stir in sugar and cocoa powder. Pour in sweetened condensed milk. Stir constantly until smooth and it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over dough, and spread evenly. Sprinkle the Reese’s Pieces over the chocolate layer. Using the remaining 2 cups of dough, drop teaspoonfuls over the candy layer. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack completely before serving (trust me!)
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What a great choice, your 7 year old obviously has great taste!
This is an A+ pick!! Maybe I’ll ask for them for *my* birthday…hmm…
I’m glad your son enjoyed his day!
That boy must take after his mama with the yummy tastebuds!
These look SO good!
It was his birthday and he should be in center of attention. I am glad that he enjoyed his b-day, and these look divine. Love the recipe, your kid do have a good taste! Thank you for sharing and have a lovely day!
Your son has good taste!!
Aw! I guess I missed yesterday’s post somehow. Happy belated birthday! Glad he was so excited to be the center of attention for the day. He certainly made a great birthday dessert choice!
He has a good taste! This looks really good! He’s lucky to have a good baker mom. =D
This is a very good choice, I would love to get this bars for my birthday next week!!
What a great treat to celebrate!
What a cute idea for kids! I love that you used Reese’s Pieces. It’s a great alternative for M&Ms. I hope your son had a wonderful birthday — it sure sounds like it!
You’re killin’ me with all of these amazing peanut butter dessert recipes!!! Peanut butter is my weakness. Big time. These sound delicious.
I have never seen those bars with Reese’s pieces. I love the idea of a little color and extra peanut butter flavor. Your son made an excellent choice!!!
These are so cute. I think these are perfect for celebrating.
Awe… Reese’s Pieces would win me over, too.
I’m glad he enjoyed his special day.
These look amazingly delicious and I love that he picked them on Pinterest. What a great gift. I would adore being able to pick something off of that site and then having someone make it for me.
Your son has my vote… reese’s pb and chocolate is my favorite combo too!! These look great!! I hope his birthday was magical!!
Ohhh, he picked a good dessert!!! I could eat a few of these myself!!
These look super awesome. I have a recipe with Reeses Pieces on my blog too – they are SO good.
I think he made a great choice for a birthday dessert! I love anything chocolate & peanut butter, so these bars sound great.
OMG, I would so pick these over cake too! I am pinning these ones!
Crap, sorry I missed your son’s 7th birthday! I just started a new job and it’s been so exhausting. I’m so behind on keeping up with blogs, and my google reader is out of control. That being said, happy 7th birthday! He is absolutely darling.
As for these bars, I absolutely love them, especially with the whole color scheme of the reese’s mini pieces.
this looks like a perfect birthday treat..or anyday treat! yum!
I’m glad your son had a nice birthday (and how sweet you let him read the birthday wishes!) I love his choice of desserts, these bars look good!
Nice choice
They do look wonderful!
These look awesome! Doesn’t get much better than peanut butter and chocolate. Yum!
I made these for a Special Olympics year end party and for a treat for my co-workers and everybody when crazy for them. I swear, about 7 people asked me for the recipe and one girl even said that “these were the best things I have ever ingested!” lol. Thanks for sharing!