Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Bars

These bars are amazingly delicious. This recipe came to me from my sister-in-law, Jen, because they are one of her mother's favorites. When Sharon (pictured here with Richard, Delilah, and Lorelei) recently passed away, I offered to make some of Sharon's favorite cookie recipes for the celebration of her life gathering. My nieces, Lorelei and Delilah, called Sharon "Cookie Grammy" because Sharon was known for making cookies. Now, whenever I enjoy these bars, I will think of Sharon what a wonderful life she lived.

When making this recipe, it is best to make it a day ahead. After the bars come out of the oven, let them cool and then slice the bars but leave the bars in the pan. To get the fudge layer to truly set, put the pan in the refrigerator overnight. The fudge will set, and the pre-cut bars should come out nicely. Jen also recommended using Duncan Hines coconut pecan frosting as a shortcut for making the fudge layer. I could not find it, so I just followed the recipe as is. And you could easily leave out the pecans and coconut because they disappear in the strong flavors of peanut butter and fudge.

Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Bars 

Crust and topping

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs

Fudge layer

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mx together the crust ingredients. Press about two-thirds of the crust into a greased 9x13 inch pan. set aside the remainder of the crust for the topping. Prepare the filling in a medium saucepan, melting the chocolate, milk, and butter over low heat until smooth. Stir in the coconut, brown sugar, flour, and pecans until well-mixed. Spread the fudge filling over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the filling. Bake at 350 fro 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool. Slice into bars. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Enjoy!