Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Is anyone else pumped that it’s finally spring?

Usually I’m not a big spring time person (I tend to prefer the crispness of autumn), but I can’t help but feel so pleased about the weather during this time of year. Something about shedding my winter jacket in favour of my spring jacket and trading my worn-out boots for running shoes. Not to mention coming home after work and having natural sunlight for another three hours. For the last few months I’ve had to plan my baking on the weekend and now it’s a nice feeling to know that I can go back to baking and taking photos after work again. This is especially good since because our next few weeks are slowly being eaten up by wedding planning. Up next, my first dress fitting!

With the weather being nice again, I’ve developed a craving for all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The moment I get home from work, one of my go-to snacks before supper has been a green smoothie made with steamed spinach, cucumber, banana, almond milk, protein powder and a touch of water to thin it out. As many readers would know, I’m no stranger to green smoothies. This year I’ve started adding cucumbers and I really like the fresh flavour it brings.

After fueling myself with an army load of greens, my tastes buds usually go back to normal and then I want something sweet. This week I’ve been enjoying a small square of my newest cookie bar recipe. Originally I wanted something thick and chocolately like a brownie, but I liked the idea of making them into more of a cookie so they would be less heavy (dress fitting!). I also wanted something peanut-buttery with a lot of crunch. While spring cleaning the fridge, I found a half bag of butterscotch chips and found that they paired quite nicely with the chocolate-peanut-buttery goodness you see before you.

PS: If you are not a green smoothie fan like me, these are also delicious when dipped in a tall glass of milk or almond milk. Feel free to also add a handful of walnuts to the recipe if you feel so inclined.

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Yield: One 8x8 pan

Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter/margarine, soften
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F. Take your 8×8 baking pan and line with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together peanut butter, butter/margarine and brown sugar.  Add the egg and vanilla. Beat the mixture until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Add butterscotch chips and chocolate chips.
4. With a wooden spoon, combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients until no dry flour mixture is visible. Spread the mixture in your prepared baking pan.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until the edges of the brownies are brown and the middle is set.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wired rack.

Happy spring!