Hello MadeFromPinterest readers! It’s Katy here from Her Cup of Joy and today I am sharing a lovely recipe that you need to make ASAP. All cookie dough lovers will rush to snatch a few or these bite sized bars. They taste exactly like cookie dough that you stuff in your mouth, you know what I’m talking about, I know you love to sneak a few spoons of cookie dough in your mouth before baking. I am not judging you if you eat raw cookie dough because I do it all the time! In fact, I would rather eat the cookie dough instead of baking actual cookies. Except, then I would feel too guilty of eating all of that dough. Which is why these bars were created, they are a perfect portion for a quick pop in your mouth, and the best part about these bars, no raw eggs :). Last month I shared this funfetti cookie cake with my coworkers, this month I brought in these cookie dough bars. Aren’t I spoiling them a bit? There were some exciting changes at work and I wanted to bring something in the next day as a mini celebration. Any reason to bring goodies to work is always great. Plus I knew I had to share the bars with everyone, or else I would eat them if they stayed in my house. They always appreciate any treats, and adored these little bites of fudgey dough.
I found this recipe in my Pinterest feed and knew I had to make them. I checked out the ingredients list and saw that everything was already stocked in my pantry, except for the mini chocolate chips. These bars are too easy to make. I came home from work and picking up my daughter around 5:00 pm, quickly whipped up the cookie dough batter, topped with a delicious peanut butter chocolate ganache and had the bars chilling in the fridge by 5:20 pm. My husband came home and didn’t suspect a thing, though, I caught him red-handed trying to eat the bars out of the pan with a spoon.

After tasting a bar, I knew I had to quickly hide them in the fridge and “dispose” of them at work the next day. Don’t think that I eat cookies all day every day, (although it would be great!) I actually am watching what I eat most of the time, but every once in a while we all need a sweet treat. That night, while my husband was watching the basketball game I ran on the treadmill to burn off a few cookie dough calories, and to be a healthy mom/wife, of course. Who knew basketball games could drag on so long, my goal was to run the whole second half of the game, but after 50 minutes of running I stopped midway through the last quarter.

Back to talking about the amazing bars, although I should have waited a few more hours to cut into the bars, I knew the sun was starting to set (food photography problems) and I didn’t want to wait until the next day after work to try them out. This is the best I could do at cutting them, but they taste delicious either way you cut them! These bars have been floating around Pinterest, I used Shugary Sweet’s recipe, although do not compare her perfect cut with mine!

Print

Irresistable Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars

Course Dessert

Servings 48

Ingredients

• For the Cookie Dough:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 can 14oz sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups mini chocolate chip morsels
• For the frosting:
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels

Instructions

• To make the cookie dough base:
• With mixer set to high speed, beat butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add vanilla, peanut butter, and condensed milk, mix until combined.
• Slowly, add in the flour until combined. Then gently fold in the chocolate chips.
• Line a 8x8 baking dish with plastic wrap or foil. Press the cookie dough mixture into the baking dish.
• To make the chocolate peanut butter ganache topping:
• Add chocolate chips and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir until all chocolate has melted. Heat in increments of 15 seconds if the chocolate hasn't melted.
• Pour the topping over the cookie dough and spread with a spatula.
• Place the baking dish in the fridge for 3 hours, or overnight, until fully set. Then, cut into mini bite sized bars.
• Keep any left over bars refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.

I appreciate the wonderful opportunity of being a guest contributor at this awesome blog! For more recipe ideas be sure to visit me at Her Cup of Joy | Instagram |Pinterest | Facebook  | Twitter

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The post Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

My 20 year-old daughter ate so many of them that she told me not to make another batch for a long time. If you eat too many of these cookies in one day they can make you sick to your stomach. She learned that the hard way.

It didn’t stop her from eating a few more the following day! There is however a debate in our house about the peanut butter frosting.  Half of the family preferred the cookies without frosting, and the rest of us LOVED the peanut butter frosting and wanted some on every cookie we consumed.

Personally, I tried the cookies without frosting and thought they were great.  I also tried the frosting without a cookie. Uh, let me just say it’s amazing!

In my humble opinion, the real magic happens when you combine the two! They can be made ahead and frozen, just allow about one and one-half hours for thawing. Then frost them just before serving.  If you are serving them at a large gathering, I suggest a double batch. Leave a comment below and let me know if you prefer them with or without the peanut butter frosting!

I have two lovely ladies to thank for these cookies, Julie from Table for Two where I found the cookie recipe and Gloria from Simply Gloria for the frosting recipe.

For the full printable Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies recipe, hop on over to My Kitchen Escapades right now where I guest posted this recipe!

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The post Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.