Recently, I was offered a sampling of the new cake mixes from Anne Byrn, better known as the Cake Mix Doctor. The timing was really perfect as we were getting ready to move, and I was looking for some simple recipes to keep BoB going before, during, and after the move.
Cake mixes are one of my favorite shortcut ingredients. As much as I like to bake from scratch, some of my favorite cakes are made from a mix (hello, Rum Cake!).
So, what’s different about these cake mixes? The big thing is that there are no artificial ingredients. Also, they are simple to mix and the flavor is great.
Anne was kind enough to send some recipes along with the mixes, and there are more on her site. You know how I love peanut butter and chocolate, so it was hard to resist making these bars.
If you aren’t able to find the Cake Mix Doctor mixes, you can substitute another yellow cake mix. Keep in mind that these mixes are a bit larger in size than standard mixes. If you’re just making cake layers, then everything works perfectly. If you’re using a recipe that augments a boxed cake mix, the yellow mix is pretty much interchangeable. Anne recommends that you have at least 1 cup of liquid in the recipe. The chocolate mix is larger than the yellow because of the cocoa content. Use the package directions or a recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor website.
I really liked these bars, and so did everyone who sampled them. The crust and crumb topping have just the right amount of peanut butter. And, that chocolate filling is amazing. The best part is that all of this peanut butter and chocolate magic happens with just a few ingredients and not much effort. That’s a big win in my book.
Disclosure: The cake mix used in this recipe was provided by the Cake Mix Doctor. I did not receive any monetary compensation for writing about this product. All opinions are my own.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
A cake mix shortcut makes these Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars a cinch to whip up!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 package Cake Mix Doctor's yellow cake mix
- 1 & 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
For the filling:
- 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Using an electric mixer on low speed, combine cake mix, peanut butter, butter, and eggs. Batter will be thick.
- Set aside about 1 & 1/2 cups of crust mixture. Press remaining crust mixture into bottom and partially up the sides of an ungreased 9"x 13" baking pan.
- To make the filling, place chocolate chips and condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Stir mixture until chocolate chips melt and mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla.
- Pour filling over crust in pan and spread evenly. Crumble reserved crust mixture over top of filling.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Cake Mix Doctor.
17 Comments on “Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars”
Oh I do hope she emails me.
I would love to play with these cake mixes!
These look so good.
These look fabulous – love a good cake mix cake!
Wow! Does this recipe bring back wonderful memories. A Pillsbury Bake-Off winner recipe called Fudge Full Peanut Butter Bars included yellow cake mix, pb, melting the choc chips with Eagle Brand then mixing in coconut pecan or almond dry frosting mix….all layered in similar order as yours. I loved that bar & made it @ Christmas when my kids were little….back in 1970’s? You made my day!!
You had me at peanut butter chocolate. Yum!
I made these yesterday! they were incredible! i used vanilla cake mix instead of yellow and they were still good. i shared them with about 15 different people and they only got great reviews! but then again, how can you go wrong with chocolate, cake, and peanut butter?
I was extremely dissapointed in this bar…It sounded good but tasted yucky…i thought maybe next time i would try milk chocolate but the crust was not so good either…so needless to say i wont be making them again…I did try the banana bread recipe and that was pretty good…I have a recipe very simliar but i couldnt find it as we are in the process of moving and recipes are packed already and in storage
OMG i just made these tonight for work tomorrow and I have to say delicious and super easy to make. Thank for sharing the recipe.
so I made these with some friends recently and we discovered that the mixture you reserve for “crumbling” is more of a batter consistency – should we have put the topping in the fridge while making the filling? how does it get to that crumble consistency?
Abs, the mixture was easily crumble-able for me. Did you vary from the recipe? What size cake mix did you use?
I made these for a church fall festival. Was very disappointed in them.
Will not make these again.
Reduce amount of butter by 50%.
Can you freeze the Peanut Butter Chocolate bars? I was hoping to make them two weeks before Christmas.
Hi, Starr. I’ve never frozen them, but I don’t think that there would be a problem.
Went by the recipe to the tee but mine were a mess the chocolate was all gooey and they fell apart when taking out of the pan ….what did I do wrong?
I’m sorry you had troubles, Kathy. There are a number of things that can go wrong, from inaccurate oven temperature to bad ingredients. If you haven’t checked your oven’s temperature lately, I’d start there as that’s a very common issue.
I made them to serve for coffee hour after church.  Everyone loved them. Have been asked to bring them to church for other events because they were always  the ones that they ran out of first. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m glad to hear they were such a hit, Peggy!