I received a few cookbooks for Christmas, although the one I decided I had to delve into first was Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. I was especially delighted to receive this book from Tom because I had never heard of it before, which is sort of rare when it comes to baking cookbooks. Lewis and Poliafito founded Baked bakery and coffeeshop in Brooklyn (Lewis's previous venture was Chocolate Bar in Manhattan -- a shop that also spawned a cookbook that I happen to own). The cookbook has lots of beautiful photos and some great-looking recipes, so last night I tried my first recipe from the book, Peanut Butter Crispy Bars.Ironically, these bars require no baking. The cookbook describes these treats as a very grown-up Rice Krispies Treat and asserts that they are hands down, the most popular refrigerated bar they make at the bakery (of course, never having been to the bakery, I'm not quite sure how strong of an endorsement that is).
The bars have a bottom crust of Rice Krispies cereal, held together with a cooked mixture of water, sugar, and corn syrup. On top of that comes a layer of milk chocolate melted together with smooth peanut butter. On top of that is a chocolate icing that is a mixture of dark chocolate, butter, and a touch of corn syrup melted together. So while each layer requires use of the stove, you never need to turn on the oven.
The finished bars were just lovely. They cut cleanly (the bars are refrigerated before cutting so that the chocolate layers become solid) and the chocolate components were as smooth as silk. The texture was a wonderful contrast of crispy crunchy cereal with super-creamy and luscious chocolate, with a bit of the mouth-tickling sensation of peanut butter thrown in. The bars did in fact taste like a decadent chocolate and peanut-butter flavored Rice Krispies Treat. My only complaint is that I think the recipe makes a bit too much liquid to mix in with the Rice Krispies. There was quite a bit of sticky goo accumulated beneath the bars, which was a little messy. But I'm glad to add this recipe to my collection and excited to keep baking through the rest of the cookbook!Recipe: "Peanut Butter Crispy Bars" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Reanto Poliafito.
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