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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
Ingredients
Bars
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon 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 unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 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!)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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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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!