Chocolate Peanut Butter Heaven | Easy No-Bake Bars

With fall and the holidays around the corner, all I want to do these days is bake. The colder weather simply begs for it. Unfortunately, my excitement for fall has not translated into cooler days yet, and it's still too hot around here to fire up the oven if I can help it. That's where these babies come in. They are delicious enough to satisfy my need for baking, but they don't require any heat. I found this recipe on Six Sisters, and chose it because of great reviews. It did not disappoint. Ridiculously easy and equally delicious, this is a new go to recipe when I need a quick peanut butter/chocolate fix. And I mean quick. Plus, you're likely to have everything you need in your pantry already! Careful though, they were a huge hit with my family and in-laws, so be aware that they will go quickly...

Ingredients
1 cup melted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (You want tiny granules--I used my blender, a food processor would also work)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
1 cup peanut butter (for the bars) & 4 tablespoons peanut butter (for the chocolate topping)
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. (You can place them in a 9x9 square pan if you want them thicker--I used 9x13 for mine). In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with 4 Tablespoons of peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

In addition to being delicious and easy, this is a great recipe to make with a young child. It's easy enough for them to help with and doesn't require eggs so no need to keep them from taste-testing. Klair loved helping me mix/taste the ingredients (she mostly just tasted things.)

Do you have any go to recipes for fall? 

Things That Make Me Say Yay || 01

Kaylie Marie gave me the idea for this series that I'm going to start doing. I think it will be a great way to keep track of all those little happy things in life that I want to remember.

So, without further ado, here are the things that have been making me say "yay" lately:

|| This straw fedora that I found at Target. I'm totally crushing on it. I imagine myself over-wearing it this summer. Style post to come very soon.
|| The fact that the trees in my yard are starting to flower. Spring cannot come fast enough.
|| The way that my daughter mimics me. We got into a "wow" "uhm" "what" exchange while strolling through Target the other day. She's my little echo.
|| How much Klair likes loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches. She's becoming a kid, and it's surprisingly fun.
||Along those lines, going to the park with my toddler. She has transformed from a baby during the warm weather days of last fall into a little girl this spring. Playing outside has never been so enjoyable.
||The Fuji apples I picked up at Costco the other day. I'm kind of an apple snob (I won't touch red delicious with a ten foot pole) and these apples... they might as well call them candy. Perfection.
|| Dancing around the house with Klair to my Ingrid Michaelson Pandora station. My girl can groove.
|| The romper that I bought for Klair. It isn't quite warm enough yet, but a mom can dream... right? I can't wait to see those chubby little legs "rompin'" around!
|| How excited baby girl gets when her dada comes home everyday. She squeals, runs to the stairs, and refuses to let him go once he's home. She a daddy's girl through and through.
|| Spending a Friday night in with my husband. Free from any distractions we ate sugary cereal, cuddled, got caught up on all our shows (a.k.a. watched way too much TV), and stayed up late talking about life.
|| Also, how much my sweet husband did this weekend while I was feeling under the weather. He took care of the babe, cleaned the house, and made me dinner. He even took Klair on a daddy-daughter date to Chuck-E-Cheese so I could have some alone time (hence the last picture). I'm spoiled.

In my effort to repay him, I just made some gluten-free brownies with homemade buttercream frosting. Yeah, that just happened. Because calories don't count after 10:00 at night, right? Yeah, pretty sure that's how it works...