Peanut Praline Squares 1.0

I should have cut these squares in half...they were really, really rich.  They are packed with a ton of delicious peanut butter and chocolate.  If you have a craving these will take care of it for you.  After I assembled everything I realized I wanted to go in a different direction for the next version of the recipe.  The squares taste wonderful as is, but I want a firmer texture for the center layer.  The cream cheese has more of a mousse like texture at the moment. I want to change how I assemble the layers as well.  Version 2.0 will look quite a bit different.  ;)

I garnished with mini peanut butter balls and chocolate covered pralines.  If you decide you want to make some mini peanut butter balls...just hold out a small portion of the peanut butter crust mixture to roll into balls.


Peanut Praline Squares 1.0

Crust:
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbls tub margarine
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix together the peanut butter and margarine.  Heat in the microwave for about a minute, until the mixture is melted together and smooth.  Stir in graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar.  Press into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.  Chill in the fridge.


Fudge Sauce/Peanut Praline Layer:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup roughly chopped peanut pralines

In a bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals. You should only need about a minute or so for your chocolate to melt. Stir in marshmallows and mix until they melt into your chocolate. You may need to heat just a bit more in the microwave to get the marshmallows fully melted...be careful not to overheat.

Pour 1 cup of the fudge sauce over the peanut butter crust. Sprinkle chopped peanuts pralines over top of the chocolate.  Press nuts gently down.

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 - 8oz blocks of 1/3 fat cream cheese
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz peanut butter chips

Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter.  Melt milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips together in the microwave until smooth.  Blend melted chocolate mixture into the cream cheese mixture.  Spread over top of peanut praline layer.

Topping:
3oz milk chocolate chips
1/2 tbls shortening

Melt together chocolate chips and shortening.  Spread over cream cheese layer.  Put pan in fridge until chocolate is set before slicing into squares.

If you decide to garnish with peanut butter balls or chocolate covered pralines...melt a little extra chocolate to dip your garnish pieces in.  You could also use the remaining fudge sauce instead of straight chocolate if you wish for the top glaze.


Another picture of the squares....

The broken up peanut pralines actually look quite pretty....I think I will switch them to the top layer of the squares rather than right above the crust next time.