School lunch at Alpine Elementary was delicious. I loved school lunch and that is saying something since my own mother is my most admired cook. I not only loved school lunch but I loved the lunch ladies! They were women that I knew and they smiled at me and made me feel loved as I went through the line collecting my lunch.
My own children went on school lunch strike about 10 years ago and my husband has been packing lunches ever since. Yes–my husband–he is pretty great. Their collective complaints were that the food was not quite up to snuff–smaller less palatable portions–yada yada– I digress.
One of the best things about school lunch back in the day was that giant slice of peanut butter bar that was larger than any third graders hand. It was divine and through the ensuing years I searched for a way to recreate peanut butter bars that matched the memory of a young girl who lingered in the lunchroom before bounding out to a game of four square, kickball, hopscotch or jacks. (By the way my mother is a great jacks player!)
One thing I knew as I embarked on my mission to create the best bar was that there had to be ENOUGH peanut butter verging on too much….as if?
This is how it goes:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease (and I still like to flour) a large baking sheet, jelly-roll style.
Have a piece of parchment, wax paper or a little extra flour handy when it’s time to spread the dough into the pan.
Cream together:
3/4 cup butter or margarine ( I am a bit of a penny pincher so I use a cube of margarine and 1/3 a stick of
butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup PEANUT BUTTER
Mix until well incorporated and
Add:
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
give this about 20 seconds with your mixer and finish off
Adding:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
* I put the flour in first so that it doesn’t puff out all over the place, then I add the rolled oats and mix just until the flour and oats are blended nicely. Your dough will be pretty sticky, but that’s okay since you will be sprinkling a bit on the top to get it rolled out nicely.
Spread:
Drop the dough evenly down the center of your greased pan and work the dough out to the sides with your fingers a bit. This is where I usually grab a piece of waxed paper or parchment and a rolling pin to help me get the dough to the edges as evenly as possible.
Bake:
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until light brown. My kids like them kind of chewy, if yours like them crunchy then leave them in a bit longer.
When they come out of the oven take 6 large spoonfuls of peanut butter and drop them on top of the hot dough and let the peanut butter get soft, about 2 minutes. To be honest this picture looks a bit skimpy on the peanut butter side of things. Load it up if you love peanut butter!
Frost:
Wait until everything is cooled and frost with your favorite frosting. I will post my favorite chocolate frosting tomorrow–it’s like spreadable fudge! Slice and serve (preferably the size of a third graders hand 🙂 )
Eat!
Very Peanut Butter Bars by Shanon Balser, Sweet Suppertime
Cream together:
3/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
Add:
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend well and add:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
Mix until well blended and spread on a greased and floured jelly roll pan ( I call it a large cookie sheet)
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Drop 6 large tablespoons of peanut butter on top of the hot dough and allow to sit for about 2 minutes. Spread over the top of the bars and allow to cool. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.
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