No-Bake Chocolate-Peanut Butter Almond Bars

Last week, I had a completely different recipe in mind to make. But it had to be baked. And when your oven stops working last minute and the urge to bake has yet to disappear, you come up with another no-bake recipe to satisfy that urge. And that's exactly what I did!

If you read my previous blog post, you'll see that this recipe is fairly similar to my no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies. The base is similar: cocoa powder, butter, and peanut butter. I changed up my ingredients this time around and turned them into bars instead of cookies. Why? Because I was too lazy to dig out my baking sheets, roll individual cookies, and make room in my fridge for them to set. So I just poured the batter into a standard 9x13 baking dish, popped that into the fridge, and voila.

This isn't to say that these can't be made into cookies. They can, and I'm sure they'll be so much prettier if they were in cookie form! And instead of almonds, peanuts can be used as well. I found that the sliced almonds gave a nice, crispy crunch to the bars and weren't too dense or hard to bite into.

A simple sprinkling of powdered sugar, white chocolate ganache, or a simple glaze work perfect over this dessert. Plus they make the dish look extra pretty. ☺

No-Bake Chocolate-Peanut Butter Almond Bars

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER ALMOND BARS
Yields: 16-24 square pieces, depending on size

INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/2 a stick of butter
- 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla
- 1/2 cup of peanut butter
- 1 cup of white chocolate chips
- 2 to 2 1/4 cups of sliced almonds or peanuts

TO MAKE:
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the honey, butter, and cocoa powder. Stir until the butter melts.
2. Let the mixture boil for one minute.
3. After boiling, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, and peanut butter.
4. After everything is mixed well, stir in the white chocolate chips. Stir until they're all melted.
5. Add the almonds, one cup at a time. Fold them in with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Make sure the almonds are completely coated with the chocolate-peanut butter mixture.
6. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Pour in the finished mixture and spread evenly in the pan.
7. Place in the fridge and let set for at least one hour.
8. Garnish with powdered sugar, glaze, or ganache. Cut into pieces and serve immediately. Enjoy!