Chocolate Goodie Bars

So you like candy bars?  This is the recipe for you.  Hugely decadent and delightful.

The other day I was in a dilemma- an enjoyable dilemma, mind you- what to make for my husbands work party.  He asked and because I love him and I love to bake I said yes.  The great thing about baking for your husbands work (or your wife's as the case may be), is you do not have to eat it.  You can enjoy the baking experience and send on its merry way.  If you would like to keep one or two for pictures... well that's okay too!

You know me, I need to do this from scratch- so I did. And I know you- you want a quick and easy way... and certainly that is okay.  I offer two ways of doing this amazing recipe.

You can go the easy route here:

Chocolate Goodie Bars

Bottom Layer:
Box of your favorite brownies- not to drop names here because I am not getting paid for it anyway, bu my fave is Ghiardelli Brownies.

Middle Layer:
Tub 'o' frosting.

The top layer:

Top "candy" Layer

2 cups crisp rice cereal
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/3 cups (8 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
Make the brownies, let cool completely.
Frost the brownies- chocolate or vanilla - your choice
Refrigerate or if you so desire chill in the freezer for a while.
Make top layer and slather over top, smoothing it down evenly.

Done!

Chocolate Goodie bars

Brownie Bottom

recipe adapted from King Arthur's Recipes.
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

2) Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

3) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture to the egg/cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving. 

Frosting Layer

2 stick butter

3 cups of confectioners

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon give or take of half and half or milk

Whip butter in a bowl for about three minutes.  Add in confectioners sugar with beaters on low.  (You dont want a face full of confectioners... or maybe you do...) Once incorporated, turn up the speed.  Add in vanilla then milk, little by little.  If you add too much, just balance it out with confectioners sugar.

You may not need all of it.  I went for a thinner coating of frosting.

Spread over cooled brownies.

Top "candy" Layer

2 cups crisp rice cereal
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/3 cups (8 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Assembly:

Make the brownies, let cool completely.
Frost the brownies.
Refrigerate or if you so desire chill in the freezer for a while.
Make top layer and slather over top, smoothing it down evenly.