Peanut Butter Twigs

When I was a little girl, my very favorite candy bar was Peanut Butter Twix.  Over the years they’ve disappeared repeatedly from store shelves, only to reemerge in new packaging or with a new spin.  At one point, you even had to buy them on the cookie isle.  Their latest rendition, Twix PB, is simply an abomination.  The idea sounds good, changing the cookies to chocolate, but it’s not.  On the down side, this means I can no longer get my favorite childhood treat.  On the upside, the lack thereof is what inspired me to recreate the original, but on my terms.  No artificial crap, no hydrogenated whatever, and no mystery, can’t pronounce it, ingredients.  Oh… and no dipping, because quite frankly, dipping is a pain in the ass, and we already covered that here.

Here’s what you’ll need: (minus salt and vanilla.  D'oh!)

Crust:
½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour

Peanut butter layer:
1 cup Peanut butter (organic or all natural)
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons half and half

Chocolate ganache:
1 cups milk chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons half and half

First things first.  Preheat your oven to 300° and line a square 8x8 pan with parchment, leaving plenty of excess for ‘handles’.  If you butter the pan first, the parchment will stay in place better. 

Let’s start with the crust.  In a mixing bowl, beat together a stick of butter and a teaspoon of vanilla until it looks like this:

Sift in the powdered sugar (that’s icing sugar for you non-Americans).  I know I’m starting to sound like a nag, but yes, you really do need to sift it. 

Keep mixing until it becomes the consistency of icing. 

Now add the flour and mix some more.  When it looks like this, you’re going to think I’ve led you astray.

But keep mixing.  It will eventually come together to form a dough.  When it does, dump it into your pan.

Press it evenly into the bottom of the pan.  If it sticks to your fingers, just flour them a bit.  When it’s mostly even, prick the dough all over with a fork. 

This is called docking.  It allows steam to escape during the cooking process, which keeps bubbles from forming in the crust and keeps it flat.  Bake the crust for 35 minutes, or until it’s golden around the edges and just beginning to turn on top.  Allow it to rest in the pan for 5 minutes or so, and then remove it to a cooling rack. 

When the crust has cooled, it’s time to start on the filling… topping?  Whatever.  Peanut butter and chocolate goodness.  In your mixing bowl… you did wash your mixing bowl while the crust was cooling, right?  Do it now, I’ll wait.  *whistling the theme song from Jeopardy*  Ok, now that it’s clean and dry, throw in the peanut butter, butter, salt, and vanilla and mix until it looks like this:

Sift in the powdered sugar (there I go with the sifting again) and continue mixing.  When it looks like this:

It’s time for the half and half.  3 Tablespoons will make a world of difference.  It should come together into a smooth, dough like consistency.  Scoop it onto your crust.

Time for pressing again.  At first, I thought I’d just spread it with an offset spatula.  Um, no.  Fingers are definitely the tool of choice here. 

And now it’s finally time for the chocolate.  As I said before, we’re not dipping.  We’re just going to spread a nice layer of chocolate ganache on top.  In a glass container (I like to just use my measuring cup) add 1 cup of chocolate chips and 2 Tablespoons of half and half. 

Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, stir, stir, and keep stirring.  Until it becomes a smooth, fudgy icing.  Then, spread that over the peanut butter layer. 

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow everything to firm up before cutting.  Run a knife along the pan edges to loosen the chocolate and peanut butter layers, then pull the whole thing out and place it on a cutting board.  Pressing straight down with your knife, cut the whole thing in half, and then cut each half into long fingers. 

These are more delicious than any store bought candy bar could be.  Even if Twix decides to reincarnate the original, I think I’ll stick with my twigs.

So, what was your favorite childhood treat?   

Peanut Butter Umm... Things

OK, so I wasn’t sure how to title this post.  I’ve always called these Peanut Butter Balls, but to be honest, that doesn’t sound terribly appetizing, so I thought I’d rechristen them.  Peanut Butter Treasures?  Peanut Butter Bites?  Peanut Butter Nuggets?  Peanut Butter Delights?  Oh, forget it.  To quote William Shakespeare (sort of):  "What's in a name? That which we call a Peanut Butter Ball, by any other name, would taste as sweet."  Right?     

When I told my husband I was going to make these for my blog this week, he said, "Woohoo!"  Or he may have used something equivalent, but not quite as demure.  He was excited, to say the least.  They just might be his very favorite treat, and that’s saying something. 

 What you’ll need:

1 ½ cups Peanut Butter *

1 ¼ cups Powdered Sugar**

3 Tablespoons Butter (softened)

1 Tablespoon Brown Rice Syrup (or honey)

1 teaspoon Vanilla

½ teaspoon Sea Salt

1 cup Chocolate chips

*Use good peanut butter.  Something natural with no palm oil.

** Please, please use organic powdered sugar.  You won’t believe the flavor difference.  In fact, you may never go back to the conventional stuff again. 

In your mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter, butter, syrup, salt, and vanilla, until it looks like this:

 

Sift in the powdered sugar. 

 

This is why it is so important to sift it. 

 

Press the lumps through with your fingers or the back of a spoon.

Mix until the powdered sugar is completely incorporated and the mixture comes together like a dough.  At this point, it should have the texture of soft fudge and look like this: 

 

Weather and humidity can play a big roll here, so if it's too dry, add more peanut butter.  If it’s too soft, add more powdered sugar. 

Pinch off a small piece of the mixture.  You want the finished treats to be no more than two bites, so I really do mean small. 

 

Roll it around in your hands and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

 

Alas, I have finally found a situation where it doesn’t benefit me to have a dog in lieu of children.  He can’t help me roll, and there are a lot of these darn things.  Well, if you don’t have any helpers, at least turn Oprah on in the background.  Just be sure it’s not an episode about weight loss.

 

So, when you finally have them all rolled into balls, place the pan (or pans, mine didn't all fit on one) in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.   

When they’re nice and firm, pour your chocolate chips into a glass bowl.  I used milk chocolate, but feel free to use whatever you like. 

 

Microwave, stirring after 30 seconds, and every 15 seconds thereafter, until it sort of falls in ribbons when you lift it. 

Now for the dipping:

Throw a ball into the chocolate and turn it over with a fork until it's completely coated. 

Let the excess drip off for just a second, and then place it back on the parchment.  Touch the fork tines lightly on the top and let the little chocolate peaks fall to form a cute little pattern. 

While you’re dipping, you’re going to have to reheat your chocolate if it gets too thick.  Also, you’ll want to stop 2 or 3 times and put the undipped balls back in the fridge if they start to get soft.  When they’ve all been dipped, place the whole sheet back in the refrigerator and chill until the chocolate has set. 

 

I like to store them in a container in the fridge so the chocolate has a nice snap when you bite into it. 

So, what would you call these fabulous little treats? 

Update on Friday, February 25, 2011 at 2:54PM by Taneasha

Otto definitely approves.  Here he is trying to steal one from the table. 

And when that didn't work, he came around to beg.

Look at that face!  LOL!