9/22/12

7 Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars


The kids are back to school and I thought back to school lunches when I was a kid.  In elementary school, I never ate school lunch.  I always brought a sack lunch and two dimes for a carton of milk.

However, in junior high, I started eating school lunch.  It was amazing.  Pizza that overflowed the plate, buttery breadsticks dipped in hot chili, and baby red potatoes swimming in butter and parsley. Two desserts were always a hit with the kids:  Chocolate Crackle Cookies and these peanut butter bars.

One bite of these soft, chewy, oatmeal peanut butter bars, covered with a blend of peanut butter and chocolate frosting will send you reeling back to your school cafeteria days.

Quick cooking oats are used in this recipe and spread into a greased 15x10 baking sheet.  Yes, that's a LARGE baking sheet, perfect for the cafeteria crowd, right?

I wanted to make this in a smaller pan, so I halved the recipe and used a 12"x9" half-sized baking sheet.  You can make these in a 9"x13" pan, but the bars will be a little thinner in size.

 
Bake these for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned.


Milk chocolate chips and creamy peanut butter are melted together in the microwave...


...and poured over the warm bars.


Let the bars cool completely and cut into bars.

Sit back and enjoy a bite of nostalgia .... you'll feel like a kid again!




Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars
(4x6 recipe card download)     (full page printable recipe)

7 comments:

  1. We had a similar dessert which was my favorite in grade school, also.I,too, had to take my lunch except when I was old enough to work in the cafeteria, then I got free lunches. I would work for maybe an hour, helping the lunch ladies, then eat free. Years later, I went to work for the school system,which I retired from on 05,after 27+ years.Some of the now,grown kids that came through my school back then, still ask me for recipes for their favorite foods from their grade school
    days.

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    Replies
    1. Love your sweet comment, Sue! Everyone gets nostalgic for their favorite comfort foods, even from the school cafeteria. My dad was a principal of an elementary school for many years and surprised me when he told me the lunch ladies would put "healthy " things like squash and applesauce in the brownies!

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  2. OMG!!!! That looks so mouthwatering. Making me feel to have some right now. Its too too tempting. That chocolate covering, its looking fabulous!!!

    BTW let me also invite you to my dinner extravaganza.
    http://www.thelady8home.com/2012/09/20/weekend-gala-dinner-extravaganza-party-3/

    Do post your amazing recipes and help make it a super success.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks amazing! I loved the chocolate chip cookies in my school cafeteria. So good!

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  4. These look delicious! Definitely the best part of school lunch :)

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  5. I looove peanut butter and chocolate! These look yummo.

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  6. I feel so cheated. My lunch ladies never got the memo about these bars. I should probably go get some therapy now that I know the real truth of school lunch. Thanks for the recipe. It will help me in my recovery process.

    ReplyDelete

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