Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Base: 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (e.g. the shells of Oreo cookies) 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup dry-roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
Filling: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup icing sugar, sifted 2 tablespoons custard powder (optional) 1/3 cup peanut butter 2 teaspoons half-and-half cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping: 6 oz. (175 g) semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, making sure that the paper comes up the sides. To prepare the base, stir the cookie crumbs, sugar, cocoa powder and coconut together by hand. Stir in the melted butter, followed by the egg and vanilla extract. Mix with a hand or stand mixer to combine all the ingredients. Add the peanuts and stir well. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. The crust will be soft and manageable, so you can use your fingers to press it down evenly. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, then cool while preparing the filling. To prepare the filling, beat the butter, icing sugar and custard powder together with a hand or stand mixer until it forms a thick paste. Add the peanut butter, cream and vanilla extract and beat until the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Spread this mixture on the cooled chocolate crust and cover with plastic wrap directly on the peanut butter mixture. Press down and rub on the plastic wrap to even out the mixture. Chill in the fridge until firm, about 2 hours. For the topping, place the chocolate and butter in a metal or glass bowl over a saucepot of barely simmering water and stir until melted. Alternatively, the chocolate and butter can be melted in the microwave at 30-second intervals. Spread this mixture over the chilled peanut butter centre and chill again until firm, about an hour, before slicing into bars. The bars can be cut as small or big as you wish, but keep in mind that this is a rich and decadent dessert, so less may be more.
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