Peanut Butter Bars

I'll do a full write-up on the debacle that was Thanksgiving at some other point, because I'm swamped with work from my less sexy, non-blogging life.

A few people asked me about what I brought as a hostess gift to T-Day (as opposed to D-Day, although for me Thanksgiving is more Dunkirk-like, in terms of survival)



1 cup melted butter(but not 'hot)2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I didn't use gluten-free crackers, but you could easily use them, if you are gluten-sensitive or wish to make a treat for someone who is gluten-intolerant). The crumbs must be PULVERIZED. They should have the texture of sand, otherwise the dough will be lumpy.2 cups confectioners' sugar (I have tried this recipe with regular and brown sugar, and again--the dough becomes too coarse and lumpy--it needs the fine powder of confectioners' sugar).1 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy)--PLUS four extra tablespoons (So, 'divided' use.  Yes, that's as technical as I get in my terminology.)1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chipsGetting the food to the destination is often harder than actually making itCream the butter, sugar, and the 1 cup peanut butter together, then (I'll say it again) SLOWLY incorporate the crumbs.  And I do mean slowly--don't do what I did, and throw everything in a lump, because the mix will take forever to combine.  This might be more important with gluten-free crackers, depending on the texture.  You may need an extra tablespoon of butter or peanut butter to get everything 'wet'--the dough will still be gritty and crumbly, kind of like sand.Spread mixture onto the bottom of 9x13 inch pan (you can use a slightly smaller pan for thicker bars--in fact, that might work better, as it will be easier to spread).Panic because dough is weird and sandy and hard to spread across the bottom of the pan.Melt the chocolate chips with the four tablespoons of peanut butter, either in a bowl over boiling water or in the microwave (heating, pausing, stirring, and heating) until incorporated.  Spread over the prepared crust.  Realize that you now have peanut butter over every single surface in the kitchen.  The chocolate peanut butter mix will be super, super sticky. It was hard to get it to cover everything--I think I should have tried to let it get more like 'liquid' although I was afraid the chocolate might 'seize.' All Recipes says to "refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares."  My experience: check after one hour. See that mix is still a crumbly mess. Panic. Cry.  Wake up the next morning.  Realize that it has set.  Fall on knees and thank the heavens.The All Recipes site says 12 bars is the yield.  Unless someone is really, really hungry, these are very rich--almost like fudge.  I cut them in tiny pieces (about 30-40, I forget which) and garnished them with Reeces Pieces and M&Ms in the little cupsTake to Thanksgiving.  Have everyone ignore them and eat store-bought goods instead. What actually got eaten at Thanksgiving