Peanut Butter & Jelly Chocolate Bars

Who’s got two thumbs up and is addicted to Instagram? This girl.

I know that I am like 4 years late to the party. Sue me.

When Handsome first got his smart phone, I was addicted to Angry Birds. I wanted to play with the little gadget any chance I got so we finally broke down and purchased me one of my own, and you know what? I haven’t played Angry Birds on it once. I tried Words With Friends and Sudoku and forgot about them after a few weeks. I have a twitter ap and can check my email, but my new thing? Instagram. Last week Instagram became available for those of us who have yet to purchase an iPhone and I had to have it.  Let the new time sink begin.

What I didn’t know was that not only do you post awesome pictures to your social media networks, but that Instagram is its very own network. I can scroll through pics for hours! I have yet to figure out how to do a lot of things with either my phone (did you know holding the home button brings up frequently used applications? Yeah, I didn’t either… for like a year) and Instagram, but I’m having a blast with it. One thing I have really enjoying doing (besides taking 1000 pictures of my pets every single day) is documenting the views on our mountain bike trails. I am not yet brave enough to post my RunKeeper times so pictures of lush green landscapes it is.

I’m sure my need to stop every so many miles and pull out the phone to take pictures is driving our time up and Handsome nuts as he has to pause and figure out if I crashed into another tree or if I was distracted by a butterfly, but there really are some amazing views when we are riding. Sometimes you are too busy worrying how you are going to un-clip your shoes in time to not careen down the rock covered hill to stop and notice. I’m certainly no where near good enough to be zooming by too fast not to see. There are small things, like old worn trees, and bigger ones, like the dilapidated old stone buildings covered in vines that amaze me. So, however you subscribe to someone, or even find them for that matter, on Instagram, do so! Find me – passthesushi 😉 and see my randomness through the day.

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Chocolate Bars

From Food Network Magazine June/July 2009

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 8 tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 sleeve saltines (40 crackers), finely crushed
• 3/4 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts
• For the filling:
• 1/4 cup grape jelly
• 7 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the glaze:

• 2 tbs butter
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation:

Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil.

Put the butter in a medium heatproof bowl; position the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water). Once the butter melts, stir in sugar and cocoa. Whisk in egg; and whisk until the mixture is warm and has the consistency of hot fudge; about 6 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in saltine crumbs and peanuts. Using your fingers or the bottom of a glass, press mixture into the pan. Set aside the saucepan of water.

Make the filling; Spread the jelly over the crust in the pan; place in freezer for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar. Spread evenly over the jelly layer. Return to freezer.

Make the glaze; Place the chocolate and 2 tbs butter in a heatproof bowl; set over the pan of simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Let cool for a few minutes before spreading over the chilled peanut butter layer. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Bring to room temperature. Using the aluminium foil, lift from pan and cut into squares. (I did this at room temperature and the jelly and peanut butter were a mess. If I were to make these again, I would try cutting them while they were still cold to prevent the as much mess).

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