Salted Peanut Chews

I know the trend right now is to make things with salted caramel.  I personally love the combination of salty and sweet.  These bars satisfy that need when my tastebuds cry out for it.  They aren't quite as salty as the salted caramel goodies I've tried, but they're pretty addictive for me.  I hadn't made these in some time and decided to resurrect the recipe for our recent beach trip, as I used to make them all the time for our annual seaside trip and thought the 20th anniversary would be the perfect time to do so.

I found this recipe years ago in one of those small recipe magazines found near the checkout stand in the grocery store.  I can't even find the original recipe to give credit for where it came from; all I have is the paper I typed to share the recipe with friends.  Like me, my youngest son thinks these bars are addicting and overall the guys rate these bars 7's and 8's.

After preheating the oven to 350°F, I began by combining the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

Then I added the softened butter, beating to thoroughly combine.

Next, I add the wet ingredients, including two egg yolks.  Helpful Hint:  I always drop any egg I'm about to use in a short glass of water to make sure it is fresh.  If it sinks, it is perfectly fresh.  If it floats, throw it out immediately!  Try not to break it, as it would smell foul!  The reason the bad eggs float is because as they spoil, the air pocket just inside the shell becomes a gas, which is lighter than air and causes the egg to float.

Now I want to show you the fastest and most amazing way to separate eggs!  I found a video showing this method on Pinterest and couldn't believe my eyes.  I've captured the process here in still shots for you.  First, I cracked a fresh egg into a saucer.  Then, taking an empty, clean water bottle, I squeezed the sides of the bottle as I neared the yolk.

As I touched the yolk gently with the lip of the bottle, I released the squeeze on the bottle and the yolk began to travel inside the bottle!

Once the yolk was fully inside the bottle, I lifted it away from the white and had a perfect separated egg.  I keep washing the same small water bottle, as it is my new egg separator!

I simply squeezed the bottle again over the mixing bowl to release the egg yolk and repeated the process for the second egg.  It only takes a matter of seconds to separate an egg.  I also added the vanilla here and beat the ingredients together.

The result is a moist, crumbly mixture.

Using my clean hands, I pressed this crust mixture into my 9- x 13-inch baking dish and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.

As you can see, the crust became a pretty golden brown and raised a little bit.

Once out of the oven I added the marshmallows.  My marshmallows got a little sticky because of the hot weather, which makes it harder to make an even layer, but I did the best I could.  I placed the dish back in the oven for another 2 minutes.

The marshmallows puffed up and almost completely covered the crust in this step.  When the peanut mixture is added, it helps move the marshmallow around, so each bar has some marshmallow.

I apologize, my pictures of the next step are missing.  Basically, in a large saucepan, I combined the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and peanut butter chips.  I cooked this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until the chips were melted and the mixture was smooth.  I then removed the pan from the heat and added the peanuts and rice cereal.  This is a stiff mixture to stir, but everything needs to be combined thoroughly.  I then used a soup spoon to drop this mixture as evenly as possible over the marshmallows.  I then refrigerated the dish for 1 hour until firm, then cut them into 1- by 2-inch bars.

To me, this is just the right combination of salty and sweet.  Enjoy!

Salted Peanut Chews

CRUST                                                                     TOPPING

  1 ½   cups all-purpose flour                                   2/3   cup corn syrup

   2/3   cup firmly packed brown sugar                   1/4   cup butter

   1/2   teaspoon baking powder                                  2   teaspoons vanilla

   1/2   teaspoon salt                                                      1   (10 oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips

   1/4   teaspoon baking soda                                       2   cups crisp rice cereal

   1/2   cup butter, softened                                          2   cups salted peanuts

       1   teaspoon vanilla

       2   egg yolks

       3   cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350°F.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients except marshmallows at low speed until crumbly.  Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 9- x 13-inch baking pan.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle evenly with marshmallows.  Return to oven; bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff.  Cool while preparing topping.

In large saucepan, combine all topping ingredients except cereal and peanuts.  Heat just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; stir in cereal and peanuts; combine thoroughly.  Immediately spoon warm topping over marshmallow; spread to cover.  Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.  Cut into bars.