Peanut Butter & Chocolate Revel Bars

This is one of those recipes that needs to come with a warning, because these are both a brilliant and a terrible idea to bake. Let me explain…

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Revel Bars are one of those things that I wish I didn’t know how to make. They are gooey, full of peanut butter, chocolate and oats. In case those three things weren’t enough, there’s butter and condensed milk to boot.

Revel Bars first came up on my radar when my friend Peidi brought them to the SideChef Shanghai office one day. Peidi is a brilliant baker and one of the kindest, loveliest people you will ever meet. Her face and infectious laughter will light up any room, and the day I met her (which was during my interview for SideChef), I knew we’d become fast friends.

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The only problem with Peidi is that she introduced me to Revel Bars, which I’d completely forgotten about until one day during hard lockdown last year when I suddenly had an insane craving for them. I messaged her on Instagram and asked if she’d share the recipe with me, which she did. In hindsight I wish she hadn’t, but here we are.

Buttanutt recently launched their new 100% Peanut Butter, made from locally-sourced, dry-roasted and high-oleic peanuts, and were kind enough to send me a few jars. This stuff is seriously some of the most intense PB I’ve ever eaten out of the jar with a spoon. Rich, creamy, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind of good.

Naturally I started conjuring up a few ways to make the most of it (besides spread on toast, obvs), and the Revel Bars popped into my head again. I’d made a batch during lockdown as soon as Peidi had sent me her recipe, but wondered how I could adapt them to include peanut butter.

The result? Amazing. Luckily they were demolished at a dinner with family on Saturday night, which is ideal when you know that it’s not a good idea to have something like these readily available when the craving hits – because it will hit.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Revel Bars

I made these with the help of my Thermomix, but I’ve also included steps for those of you who don’t have one. You can melt the chocolate into the peanut butter mix instead of dotting the top of the mixture with chocolate pieces before baking, but the chunks of chocolate along with the layer of peanut butter make a good combo.

Ingredients

• 130g butter, softened
• 65g peanut butter 
• 85g condensed milk
• 170g sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 155g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 120g oats
• 100g dark chocolate chunks or chopped (I used Afrikoa’s 55% Semi-Sweet)

Thermomix Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, line a square baking dish or cake tin with baking paper.
2. Place 15g of the butter, peanut butter and condensed milk in the mixing bowl. Melt for 2 minutes / 80°C / speed 2, then transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Place the sugar, egg, vanilla extra and remaining butter in the mixing bowl and mix for 30 seconds / speed 3.
4. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and oats to the mixing bowl and mix for 30 second / speed 3.
5. Spread 3/4 of the dough mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, then spread with the peanut butter mixture.
6. Randomly dot the top of that with the remaining 1/4 of the dough and then sprinkle with the chocolate.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into bars.

Regular Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, line a square baking dish or cake tin with baking paper.
2. Place 15g of the butter, peanut butter and condensed milk in a heat-proof mixing bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds until everything is melted and combined. Set aside.
3. Place the sugar, egg, vanilla extra and remaining butter in a mixing bowl. Whisk using a hand-held mixer or whisk until thick and creamy.
4. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and oats, then mix until it just comes together to form a soft dough.
5. Spread 3/4 of the dough mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, then spread with the peanut butter mixture.
6. Randomly dot the top of that with the remaining 1/4 of the dough and then sprinkle with the chocolate.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into bars.