Plateful Of Fun
Tummy Fillers

These are NO BAKE chocolate peanut butter squares that I made the other day. My son said he ate the “chocnuts” I made and true enough, these taste like those chocnuts we Filipinos like to eat then and now.

This is a perfect homemade gift to give to family and friends this Christmas. Fuss-free preparation using only a FIVE ingredients (with my tweaking):

• 1/2 cup (115g salted butter) melted (I used about 1/3 of unsalted butter, room temperature so I added a pinch of salt)
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (You can buy these from the supermarket, which was what I did, no need to “hammer” on the sheets, and if there’s none of the crushed packs, 8-10 sheets will do) 
• 1 cup confectioners’ powdered sugar (I used 1/2 lightly packed muscovado sugar)
• 3/4 cup + 2 T creamy peanut butter (I used a cup [remember that I cut down on the butter] of oily, creamy, not sweet local brand of peanut butter with a green label)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a cup of roughly chopped dark chocolate squares [from a big block], 2T PB  and I added 1/4 cup of sweetened powdered cocoa)

Procedure:

1. Line an 8×8 square baking pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a bowl, mix the butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well combined. Stir in the peanut butter. Spread evenly in the baking pan.
3. Using a microwave, melt the 2T PB and chocolate chips until melted. I used a pan with water, put a stainless mixing bowl on top of it and turned on the stove and stirred the PB, chocolate squares and sweetened cocoa powder until everything was smooth. It does work like a double boiler. Stir until smooth.
4. While still hot, spread evenly on the peanut butter layer.
5. Chill until firm. This would take 2-3 hours. Before cutting, allow to sit at room temperature for 10 mins before cutting. (I didn’t wait that long, I just had to cut away immediately and I got no problems doing so because the square was still firm)
6. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator.
7. Best served chilled.

IMPORTANT TIP: 1 square of this chocolate peanut butter is enough to satisfy a sweet craving. Drink plenty of water after eating. My kids had this with milk though I had them drink water after eating.