Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars with Peanut Butter Frosting

I am about to go see the Hobbit. It’s been out for over a month, and most people have already seen it. There were so many good movies coming out in December that I didn’t get around to it. Before I head off, I’m going to share this delicious cookie recipe.

 I found this recipe on another blog, Mountain Mama Cooks.  When I saw it, I knew I was going to make it.  I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate, and peanut butter and chocolate are one of the best pairs around.  The only change I made was to add more sugar in the form of mini chocolate chips in the bar and peanut butter cups sprinkled on top.  I am glad I made them because they hit the spot.  Everyone who tried them thought they were brilliant.  These are rich and chocolaty.   I think you’ll love them.

 The ingredients for the cookie bar are 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ½ cup butter, ¾ cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 cup mini chocolate chips.  The ingredients for the frosting are ½ cup smooth peanut butter, 4 tablespoon butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, salt, and 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.  I also sprinkled a handful of chopped up mini peanut butter cups on top.

 I found these dark chocolate peanut butter cups, and they are super addictive.  This are all that remained of a bag I bought for a recent road trip.  It wasn’t pretty.

 For the bars, I started by creaming the butter and sugar.

I added the egg and vanilla and mixed well.

The original recipe directs you to whisk the dry ingredients together before adding it to the creamed mixture. I didn’t do that because I am lazy, but it worked out fine. I gradually added the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder into the butter and sugar, stirring after each addition.

When it was close to being completely combined, I added the mini chocolate chips. This is thick dough.

I pressed the dough into a 9 by 13 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. I tried to create an even layer. I baked the cookie bars for 13 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the bars cooled completely, I made the peanut butter frosting. I just combined the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt together.

After combining all the ingredients, I realized it was pretty dry. I slowly added milk until the frosting had reached the desired consistency.

I spread the frosting on top of the cooled bars.

I sprinkled the chopped peanut butter cups on top. Yum!  These were delectable! They went quickly.  They are not fudgy like a brownie, but the chocolate flavor still packs a punch.  I don’t think the mini chocolate chips added much; they got lost in the rich bar.

I like this recipe because it makes a manageable amount of cookies. Sometimes cookie recipes have huge yield. This batch made enough to scratch my craving and share without having to stuff my face.