White Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

You know the downside of wanting something made into a movie? If it does become a movie, and it sucks, it feels like it's partly your fault. You willed it into being, right? That means you're to blame.

A current topic of conversation between my brother and me has been the possibility of a Deadpool movie. I think we're pretty much in agreement that it could be awesome, but only if it's done right. We've seen that superhero movies can very easily go wrong, and a movie about a tragically flawed anti-hero assassin with a love of pancakes that regularly breaks the forth wall, well... I don't know much about movies, but I do know that doesn't sound like an easy task.

And then I read on Wikipedia that the character my brother said sorta seemed Deadpool-ish from one of the X-Men movies (Wolverine Origins, I think), except, you know, wrong, well, he's actually supposed to be Deadpool, and they might be making a movie about him. Played by Ryan Reynolds. You know, Ryan Reynolds who kind of sucked as one of my favorite DC superheroes, the Green Lantern? Yeah, he's supposed to be Deadpool.

This is all my fault because I wanted a Deadpool movie. I'm just going to drown my sorrows in these bars, mmkay?

These were originally meant to be an experiment to see if I could make brownies with white chocolate the same way you make them with regular chocolate. But of course, I wasn't following a recipe, and I added peanut butter, and I ended up with these firm, cakey bars. Not the white chocolate brownies I'd been trying to make, but too delicious not to share.

These are not overly sweet. The peanut butter is the most prominent flavor, but with the light sweetness of the white chocolate coming in behind it. The texture is a cross between a cookie bar and a cake. It's light but firm. It's a thoroughly unfussy dessert, great for the lunchbox, or for stuffing in your face while trying to psychically will Joss Whedon to take over the Deadpool movie.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! It ends this Sunday, tell your friends.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients
4 oz. white baking chocolate, chopped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1¼ cups flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 7x11 inch baking dish with parchment paper. In the microwave, or in the top of a double boiler, melt together the baking chocolate, butter, and peanut butter. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Add in the melted chocolate mixture and mix well. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the peanut butter and white chocolate chips, reserving about 1/4 cup.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan (the batter will be thick). Sprinkle the reserved chips on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned, and the top bounces back when lightly pressed. Cool completely before cutting.

Tip: For the drizzle, I just melted a spoonful of peanut butter with some white chocolate chips together in the microwave. You don't need much.

Recipe by Kim