Busy Girl Bakes: Peanut Butter Squares recipe

Crunchy, crumbly, salty-sweet – all the best textures and flavours are in these indulgent little bites. They are really easy to make, and keep for ages in the fridge – perfect for when it’s your turn to take something into the office, easy for kid’s birthday parties, or just keep them squirrelled away for when you need a midweek comfort treat (we won’t judge!).

The base is like a peanutty version of millionaire shortbread-base, and it contrasts deliciously with the bittersweet dark chocolate topping. This recipe is from the fabulous Lorraine Pascale’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Food – and it lives up to all of those promises!

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients

150g/5½oz butter
200g/7oz dark chocolate
250g/9oz digestive biscuits
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
300g/10½oz peanut butter (crunchy)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Line a 20cm/8” square tin with baking paper.

Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan.

In a food processor, blast the digestive biscuits and soft light brown sugar until you have a crumb mixture. Add this to the melted butter in the saucepan.

Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Press this mixture evenly into the base of your lined tin – press it down hard so the chocolate won’t seep down the sides!

In a separate bowl, melt the dark chocolate. (You can either do this over a pan of simmering water, or in short blasts in a microwave – either way, keep an eye on it and don’t let it burn.)

Pour the melted chocolate evenly over the biscuit base.

Chill in the fridge until hard (or accelerate this with 30 mins in the freezer). Cut into squares.

And enjoy!

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