Friday, January 6, 2012

K Bars

Print Friendly and PDF

No. Not like the knife. Why would I be talking about combat knives? That would be weird. And scary. I mean K Bars as in scotcheroos. Special K Bars.

This was one of the first things I ever learned how to make. When I was twelve years old I pretty much made them every other day.

I'm not kidding. Don't judge.

The reason they're so good is because they have a LOT of peanut butter in them. This is how I measure...

Look. That measure cup is crying tears of joy. It knows the holy purpose which it is about to serve.

Just kidding. I think it's just corn syrup.

That, my friends, is the most glorious peanut butter caramel. It is the heart and soul of a K Bar.

And this. This is just the frosting on the cake. Or the inch thick layer of peanutbutter-butterscotch-chocolate that lives on top of a K Bar.  Whichever way you want to look at it.

You'll need a lot of it.

I even make it pretty on the top sometimes when I feel like it. 

Look! A K Bar butt!

I dumped in a little too much Special K cereal this time. 6 cups would have been sufficient. You should not see any half naked flakes as you do above. Just gobs of carameliness (um... why is spellcheck underlining carameliness? It's obviously a real word).

K Bars

6 cups Special K cereal (Rice Chex and Rice Krispies also work)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease a large round bowl and pour the cereal in. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Set aside.
In a pan on the stove, combine the corn syrup and sugar. Stir with a rubber spatula over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter. Immediately pour this mixture over the cereal and fold in well until to gobs of caramel remain. Pour into the 9x13 pan.
In a microwaveable 4 cup measuring cup (or other microwave save dish) combine the butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and vanilla. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring very well after each interval, until it is completely melted and smooth. It should take about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Pour over the K Bars. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before cutting. 

I was impatient and did not allow them to cool completely before cutting them. You can be impatient too.

And don't press the first layer down too flat because then you will have nice little crevices where the chocolate can hide. Yes please.
Print Friendly and PDF