Kitchen Adventures 17.3

Deliciously decadent desserts are some of my favorite things to make. I usually make these for work birthday parties, but I think I need to start making them for myself. Most of the time I only get one or two pieces of what I make before it's all gone! For once, though, this didn't happen. For some reason everyone forgot about this dessert in the fridge and eventually I had to take it home and eat it all myself. Let me tell you, I was happy to make that sacrifice. :) I even shared this recipe with my mom so she could make them for my brother's senior percussion recital and they were a hit there. I'm feeling the need to make them again once all the Christmas goodies are gone.

This dessert does take a little time to make, but it's not overwhelming. You basically end up making two different kinds of fudge and then making a crumbly layer at the bottom. Deliciousness. You do just need little pieces because it is quite rich. My mom ended up sticking pieces together with a toothpick in order to hold them together as the bottom layer does tend to crumble off. It generally holds together, though.

This recipe came from Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch

Ingredients:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks plus 1 T. unsalted butter
One 16 oz. jar creamy peanut butter
2 c. crispy rice cereal
1/4 tsp. salt
3 c. confectioners' (powdered) sugar

Directions:

1. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper or waxed paper. In a medium saucepan, melt half of the chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter over the heat. I chopped the chocolate as needed in order to ensure it was just half of it. Remove from the heat once melted and stir in 1 cup peanut butter and 2 cups rice cereal. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Wash out the saucepan.
2. In the saucepan, combine the remaining 2 sticks butter and the salt; melt over medium heat, stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining peanut butter and the confecitoners' sugar. Spread half of the peanut butter mixture over the cereal layer. Top that with the remaining 1 cup cereal.
3. In a small bowl, microwave the remaining chocolate at medium power until melted, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir into the remaining peanut butter mixture. Spread evenly over the cereal-topped peanut butter layer and refrigerate until set, about 45 minutes.

I again do not have a picture, but imagine a layer of chocolate-peanut butter fudge on top of a layer of peanut butter fudge on top of a layer of chocolate crisp rice and you have deliciousness.