Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are similar to Millionaire’s shortbread, only with a rich fudgy peanut butter filling instead of caramel! Made with a buttery shortbread-style crust and crowned with a rich dark chocolate ganache (and a sprinkle of sea salt), these are totally addictive treats.

We are back at it with the peanut butter again today!

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are a hybrid of my popular Buckeye Brownies and my Millionaire’s Shortbread (have you tried those yet? soooo good!). These peanut butter chocolate treats are easy to make and the combination of the snappy shortbread crust, the peanut buttery fudge filling and the decadent dark chocolate ganache, all topped off with a sprinkle of sea salt is rich, decadent, and absolutely addictive.

I actually like to cut my bars into bite-sized pieces because of the decadence of the combination. They’re rich, but not overly sweet (the sea salt on top helps with that), a very satisfying after dinner treat.

The shortbread crust is not a “true” shortbread, let’s just get that out of the way right now. “Real” shortbreads are generally made with just butter, flour, and sugar, but I found that to be a bit too crumbly for the hefty peanut butter and chocolate toppings on these peanut butter shortbread bars, and so I made a few changes.

We’ll add some brown sugar and an egg yolk (for moisture and flavor) and a splash of vanilla extract to our dough. Take care when mixing everything together that you don’t over-mix the dough as you want it to still be a bit dry and crumbly. This will make it much easier to spread into the bottom of your 9×13 pan.

Make sure to let your shortbread cool completely before adding your peanut butter fudge topping, or it will just melt all over the bars — you want it to be firm and sliceable.

The chocolate ganache adds a nice, pretty top layer to these peanut butter shortbread bars (and I personally believe that peanut butter should always be accompanied by chocolate, so of course I had to include it). I generally use semisweet or dark chocolate for my bars, but milk chocolate chips would work well here, too.

Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars

Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are similar to Millionaire's shortbread, only with a rich fudgy peanut butter filling instead of caramel! Made with a buttery shortbread-style crust and crowned with a rich dark chocolate ganache (and a sprinkle of sea salt), these are totally addictive treats.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword peanut butter, shortbread

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 24 squares

Author Samantha Merritt

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened 226g
• 1/3 cup sugar 70g
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar tightly packed 70g
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 260g

Peanut Butter Fudge

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter 475g
• 1/2 cup butter cut into about 8 pieces 113g
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar 260g
• 1 Tablespoon milk 15ml

Chocolate Ganache

• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 340g
• 1/2 cup heavy cream 120ml
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

Shortbread Layer

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until well creamed, about 30 seconds.

3. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir well, pausing to scrape down the sides and mixing until ingredients are well-combined.

4. Add flour gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time), pausing to scrape down sides of bowl. Halfway through the addition of the flour, sprinkle in the salt with the beater still running.

5. Don't over-beat the dough, you want it to be slightly crumbly to make it easier to press into the pan.

6. Drop dough over prepared pan and gently, evenly, press dough into the bottom of the pan. To make it easier, I usually lay a piece of wax paper over the dough and use the palm of my hand to smooth the surface (and then discard wax paper).

7. Bake on 350F (177C) for 20-25 minutes -- edges should be lightly golden brown.

8. Allow to cool completely before adding peanut butter fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge

1. Combine peanut butter and butter in large heat proof bowl and microwave at 15-second increments (stirring between each) until butter is completely melted.
2. Stir in vanilla extract.

3. Gradually stir in powdered sugar.

4. Add milk and stir well. Mixture should be fudgy enough that you can mold pieces into a ball, but not too stiff that you won't be able to spread it over the brownies (feel free to add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if mixture is too stiff, or more powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time if mixture is too soft).

5. Drop peanut butter mixture by heaping spoonfuls over the cooled brownies and use a knife to gently spread until the shortbread layer is evenly covered with a thick layer of fudge.

Chocolate Topping

1. Combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir frequently until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Allow chocolate to cool for about 15 minutes, and then evenly spread over prepared caramel layer. Wait several minutes and then sprinkle with sea salt.

4. Allow chocolate to harden (I recommend placing in refrigerator for about 30 minutes -- my family prefers these treats refrigerated anyway) before cutting and serving.