Buckeye Cookie Bars

Have you ever had a Buckeye?




 {Buckeye recipe from All Recipes.com}

 

I'm pretty sure it started as an Ohio thing, but they should be known all over. They're delicious, and how can they not be? Little balls of peanut butter dipped in chocolate to look like a Buckeye nut. Mmm-- LOVE them, and they're a super easy holiday gift to give. Anyway, these yummy little cookie bars are inspired by the candy.

Looks good, no? Want to know how easy these lil' guys are to make? OK, here it goes.

What'cha need:

• 1 Devil's food cake mix
• ¼ c. vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• ½ c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 c. peanuts (I left these out)
• ⅓ c. canned chocolate fudge frosting

What'cha do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and egg. Beat until crumbly (I just used a pastry cutter and combined them by hand). Reserve ½ c. of the mixture, and press the rest in a 9" x 13" pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. For the filling, beat the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk together. Stir in peanuts, if desired. Spread (heh-- wrong verb. Should say blob and attempt to evenly distribute the gluey mixture) over the crumbs. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over peanut butter layer and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. In a small resealable sandwich bag, add frosting and microwave on high for 5-10 seconds. Snip small corner off bag and drizzle in a criss-cross pattern over crumb topping. Chill until frosting sets. Cut into bars, and EAT 'EM UP!

* It's A LOT easier to cut (and chew!) if you let the bars come to room temperature before serving.

Linking up to the following parties: