Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars – These bars are soft, chewy, dense and buttery! And when topped with Peanut Butter cups, it makes for a delicious treat!
It’s been awhile since I’ve made a gooey pan of bars.
Or baked peanut butter cups into something. These make up for lost time.
They’re the best bar I’ve made in recent memory, and I can’t keep my hands off them. If you’re looking for a fast and easy layer bar with results that far exceed the minimal effort spent, these are the ones.
Prep and assembly takes 10 minutes, no mixer is required, and you can stir everything together in one bowl. I love bars and desserts that come together in no time and that create a minimum amount of dishes.
They have a cookie dough base layer, which is topped with mini peanut butter cups. Sweetened condensed milk is poured over the top and handfuls of cookie dough are crumbled before baking. So easy.
Begin by melting one stick of butter. Stir in an egg, sugars, vanilla, flour, and baking soda. The dough is thick and dense.
Press the dough into an aluminum foil-lined and cooking sprayed baking pan, but not all of it. Reserve one-half cup of dough and set it aside. It’ll be crumbled on the top later.
I urge you to line your pan, leaving overhang, so you can just lift the bars out. Plus, it makes cleanup a breeze. Nothing says dealbreaker on a quick and easy dessert like sweetened condensed milk that caramelizes all over your baking pan and you have to literally chisel it off.
Sprinkle the mini peanut butter cups over the dough base. Or use diced full-size peanut butter cups, or other diced candy bars. Use up leftover Easter candy, or whatever odds and ends you have. Candy is candy, it’s all going to be good, use what you have. Rolos, Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, or similar.
Pour just over half of one can of sweetened condensed milk over the top. Use the other half to make 7-Minute Microwave Caramels. You can make those in the microwave while the bars bake in the oven, which is exactly what I did. My house smelled wonderful from caramels in the microwave with peanut butter, chocolate, and cookie dough in the oven. And this is why I run, every day.
After flooding with sweet milk, lightly crumble the reserved cookie dough in irregular, marble-sized chunks.
Try not to sample too much along the way. Easier said than done.
The hardest part of the recipe is that you must let the bars set up for about 3 hours before slicing or you’ll have a literal hot mess. Let them cool on the counter for an hour, then place the pan in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight. Lift out with the foil overhang and make nice, clean, pretty squares.
Alternatively, you could just dig in with spoons as soon as they’re cool enough from the oven if you don’t care about clean cuts or devouring this, family-style. As in, the whole family dives in with a spoon.
The cookie dough base is squishy soft in the middle, dense and buttery. The edges raise while baking and turn firmer and chewy. They’re no chocolate chips added and the richness and pure cookie dough flavor really shines. These are for cookie dough lovers who can appreciate a really flavorful slab of dough.
There’s just enough golden cookie dough on top to sandwich in some of the gooey filling, but not so much that the dough overpowers the other flavors. I prefer crumbles and crisps to double-crusted pies because that top layer of crust is just too much dough. I like things sprinkled rather than totally enclosed with dough.
The peanut butter cups provide texture and a nice pop of peanut butter and bit of chocolate in every bite.
The creamy, rich, sweetened condensed milk takes on caramel and vanilla tones while baking. It cloaks the cookie dough and peanut butter cups in a sweet, milky, luscious bath.
Gooey and sticky, sweet and creamy, soft and chewy, chocolate and peanut butter, vanilla and caramel, all in one.
Please pass the napkins.
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Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 heaping cup mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or diced full-size cups; or substitute with another type of diced candy bar such as Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfinger, Heath, Rolos
- about 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, just slightly more than half of one standard 14-ounce can
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute. Allow the butter to cool momentarily so you don't scramble the egg.
- Add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and stir vigorously to combine, for about 1 minute.
- Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt and stir until just incorporated. Batter will be quite thick.
- Reserve 1/2 cup batter; set aside. Turn remaining batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula.
- Evenly sprinkle the peanut butter cups over the batter. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top. Using your fingers, lightly crumble the reserved cookie dough over the top in irregular, marble-sized chunks.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out without cookie dough batter clinging; it may not be clean because you're going through other layers and you may have to peck around to find a testing place. Edges will be firm and golden. The sweetened condensed milk should nearly be set in all places, and possibly only a little jiggly in the very center of the pan. Bars will firm up more in pan as they cool.
- Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving. Expediting this by placing pan in the refrigerator is okay if you're in a hurry. Extra bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I hhave a huge family so everything I make I use a 9×13 baking pan what would I need ingredient wise to make the Pb cup cookie dough to fit the 9x13pan?
You could simply just double the recipe and extend baking time as needed. LMK how they turn out!
Making this recipe today, here in Melbourne Australia. Just using quality organic chocolate chips instead of a candy bar. The recipe is easy to put together with the help of my Kitchen-Aid. If it’s a success then it will become a regular staple to go with our coffee & TV ritual. I can’t wait to try lots of different candy variations.
You don’t even need a mixer. Seriously just melt some butter, whisk in the rest, it takes a minute or two, tops, and you’re ready to go! :)
Well it was a success. And I am glad I used my Kitchen-Aid, that was one thick batter! Until they make a prosthetic whisk to swap for my prosthetic hand; the Kitchen-Aid will have to do the trick.
So glad you tried them and they were a success! thanks for LMK!
Made these this morning for my husband who loves all things Reese! The moaning and groaning coming from the living room when he took his first bite was definitely my reward! Perfect dessert for the wife who can’t bake. Will make again and again! :)
“The moaning and groaning coming from the living room…” <-- I love that. That is so awesome! Also have you seen this version, the chocolate ones that I made two weeks later? https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/04/milky-way-chocolate-cookie-crumble-bars.html Super good as well.
Thanks for LMK that you tackled these and they were received so well :)
I made these last week! Next time I’m making a double batch!
So glad to hear it was such a hit you’re double batching it next time :) Also check out these – similar but chocolate! https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/04/milky-way-chocolate-cookie-crumble-bars.html
So everyone knows how awesome these are:
I made the peanut butter crumble bars….they were AMAZING!! Dangerously good…..almost ate all of them by myself. But I did cut them smaller so it made about 12 to 14 for me.
So glad that you love them as much as I do…I recreated a chocolate version, post up today, in case you want to try the chocolate version :)
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/04/milky-way-chocolate-cookie-crumble-bars.html
Made these today and they turned out great! Used peanut butter chips instead of the Reese’s PB cups but could totally see myself making them again and trying out another candy. I’m thinking Rolo’s next time :)
One issue I had was with the aluminum foil & cooking spray. I found that the dough wasn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan so I ditched the foil and used just cooking spray and it turned out fine. Cleaning wasn’t too terrible either. Just wanted to share my experience!
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
So glad you made them and enjoyed them so much. Glad your bars weren’t sticking to the pan. I just NEED to have foil in order to lift out with the overhang and slice on a cutting board in order to make them look neat and tidy for the pics (plus it saves me cleanup time) but good to know it wasn’t a problem skipping it!
And PB chips sound great and so do Rolos. If I had had any in the house, I would have used them, too. I have a new version of this bar coming out on Tuesday. Stay tuned. It’s crazy crazy good. :)
WOW WOW WOW! I knew as soon as I saw this post I had to make these and they are every bit as amazing as I expected they would be. Since I have a weakness for sweets, I tend to always try to cut recipes in half so I have less temptation to deal with. In this case, I had a feeling they would be so good that I went in the opposite direction and doubled the recipe from the start. I figured why not use the whole can of condensed milk and double the pleasure from the start. Good choice because they are perfection. BTW – I think you mentioned you run every day and I’m curious how far. I do run, but not enough to keep up with my dessert testing/tasting habit. Guess I need to find a better balance – HA. Thanks for another great recipe that will go on my “repeat” list.
So glad that you made them and that you made a double batch, right off the bat! They are crazy good. So good that next week I have another version-on-a-theme of this b/c I could not get these out of my mind!
I run about 5 miles a day. I have been doing that for 20 years…literally since I was in junior high. I do not feel balanced if I don’t. It’s like brushing my teeth. Just a daily thing that has to happen :)
I can’t wait to see what you make next week. I think this cookie base could support lots of variations and I’ve got quite a few ideas for different ways I’m going to use it already.
Great that you can run that far everyday! I do understand the need to exercise to get that balanced feeling. I workout 7 days a week, but only run on average 3 – 4 of the days. I workout in the morning and it really sets the tone for the entire day. I do feel the best on the days I run, so maybe when the weather in Michigan starts looking as nice as Aruba, I’ll be more motivated to get outside everyday. :-)
I live in San Diego full time so not quite as nice as Aruba, but not too shabby :)
I just want to tuck myself right into one of these bars and eat my way out!
Thanks girl! They are seriously a new fave bar. I make tons of stuff but these were extra special!