So I have a sweet tooth again. Is this a good thing? I doubt it. Especially coming up on the end of the second trimester. This is the time, last pregnancy, where I got the dreaded news that I had developed gestational diabetes. Otherwise known as pregnancy torture. Imagine having a host of cravings and having to eat the same balanced small meals every two hours. No sweets, lots of cottage cheese. So what does that say that suddenly my body craves sugar? Probably nothing good- but that isn't going to keep me from baking up some delicious sweets. I'll just need to find someone to give them to!
I think it turned out amazing. Such a dense and delicious peanut butter blondie, just bursting with chocolate goodness. The recipe used sweetened condensed milk mixed with peanut butter- and it was pure genius. It makes spreading peanut butter so much easier and provides the perfect amount of sweet. Best of all- you don't have to turn it into dulce de leche first- a labor intense process but one that yields true nectar of the gods. The real danger here is the delicious and sticky taste of the mixture. I kept "accidentally" getting more and more on my hands. Truthfully I wanted to just dip my spoon in and eat it straight. I refrained. Mostly.
This was our Saturday morning baking project. We usually make a batch of muffins for the week, or some hearty bread. This week I was craving a sweet treat, and the kids humored me. Q got lessons in cutting in butter, and I am thrilled. That is one labor intensive process, especially when you use two sticks of butter. Child labor- I am all for it.
Ingredients
2 cups quick oats
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, cubed and cold
1 egg
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup peanut butter
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add two sticks of cold cubed butter and cut them in with a pastry knife. You can also use two knives. You want the mixture to resemble peas and breadcrumbs. Remove one cup of the mixture to a medium size bowl and stir in the chocolate chips, set aside.
Mix the egg into the bulk of the crust mixture, combine it will. Press the crust into the bottom of a large baking dish. Mine was 13x15- any similar size will work. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and set aside.
In a medium bowl mix together the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until combined. Don't taste it. It's a downhill slope from one small taste to huge tablespoons full shoveled covertly into your mouth.
You should let the crust cool. It would be so much easier to spread the peanut butter. I, however, did not. I was in a hurry and went for it. I pulled up a lot of crust trying to spread the mixture but in the end I got it done. I found the best tool to spread was the back of a table spoon. Use your judgment.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then let the dish cool completely. (you really do have to wait this time) Once the dish is cool, cut into bars. This is a very rich dessert, so I recommend cutting small portions. I cut a few large ones just for the photo, the size I served the kids was about half what you see.