I would like to start by thanking peanut butter and chocolate for joining forces and being so delicious together.
Some of you may be wondering “What is Dulce de Leche and what does it mean?”. In short, Spanish caramel. It’s made differently then caramel sauce.
How to Make Homemade Dulce de Leche
Carmel sauce is usually made by melting raw white sugar in a dry pan until it becomes an amber color, then things like heavy cream and butter are added to finish the sauce and create the texture your wanting.
When making Dulce de Leche things work differently. The process for making Dulce de Leche involves cooking down / simmering condensed milk for hours, about 3 hours being careful not to burn the milk solids. The natural sugars in the milk intensify and become even sweeter. Additions like cinnamon, palm sugar, even normal table sugar to help balance out the flavor profile you’re looking to accomplish.
Another way to make Dulce de Leche that I’ve only read about sound interesting.
- Place a can of condensed milk into a saucepan and cover with water.
- Turn on the heat to medium
- Cook for 2 to 3 hours. Depending on the size of the can
- Turning the can over every 20 minutes.
- BingO. You’ll have Dulce de Leche
I’m inclined to test this soon. Cheap experiment. Will report back with the results on Facebook, Pinterest & Youtube.
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This recipe comes from my Aunt MC recipe. She is known for her incredible cooking skills and even more so her sweet confession creations. The recipe below is her original recipe.
This dessert reminds me of a Reese peanut butter cup and a Butterfinger that had a baby and then someone called caramel to come on over to the party. Yep, that’s a spot description.
The Secret Ingredient to Peanut Butter Chocolate Butterfinger Bars?
The ingredient that creates the Butterfinger texture is, (wait, queue drum roll, please)….
The answer: Vanilla Wafers. The cookie of past childhoods. If you’re from the south you likely can taste the vanilla wafers in your mind to perfection right now.
Overall this dessert is super simple to make and makes a nice size batch to share.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Butterfinger
Ingredients
- High Quality Butter (Softened) 1 Cup
- Crunchy Peanut Butter (/ Almond Butter Works Too) 1 Cup
- Powder Sugar / 10x 2 Cup
- Vanilla Wafers (Crushed /45 Cookies) 1 ½ Cups
Chocolate Ganache Sauce
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate (/ Not Milk Chocolate) 12oz Package
- Heavy Whipping Cream ½ Cup
- Sea Salt Pinch
Dulce de Leche Sauce / Caramel Sauce
- Dulce de Leche /or Caramel Sauce 1 Can
Instructions
Peanut Butter Butterfingers Base
- Start by adding the 1 cup of peanut butter to the mixer, plus the cup of high-quality butter and mix together
- Next, add in the 2 cups of powdered sugar. I like adding the sugar one cup at a time and mixing before adding the next cup.
- The secret ingredient - Vanilla Wafers - Use around 45 wafers or 1 ½ cup crushed.Crush the vanilla wafers in a plastic bag or bowl. Be sure to not over crush the wafers. You want the texture in the peanut butter base to create the Butterfinger effect.
The Chocolate Ganache Sauce
- In a small saucepot, add the 12oz /or (1 ½ cups) of semi-sweet chocolate and melt over medium-low heat.
- Once melted add in the heavy whipping cream and stir until combined.
Putting Everything Together
- Add the peanut butter/vanilla wafer base to a 9 by 13 casserole dish. Press the mixture around until flat and smooth.Add the Dulce de Leche /or Caramel Sauce over the top. You can create a smooth layer or just drizzle some over the top.Next, pour the chocolate ganache over the top and smooth out.
Icing & Design Pattern
- Mix ⅓ cup of powder sugar plus 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to a small bowl and mix. Starting with 2 tablespoons allows you to control the thickness of the icing. You want the icing to run a bit. You likely do not want to be squeezing the icing out hard. Go up and down the length of the casserole dish creating lines.(You can always watch the video below for the technique.)Using two toothpicks, held in one hand, creating a cross pattern. Move the toothpicks across the lines of icing, displacing the icing creating a nice design.
- Lastly, cut mini Reese's into quarters and arrange them around the peanut butter bars.Cover with Dulce de Leche /or Caramel Sauce. As little or as much as you like.Try to make it look really nice 🙂
PRANITA DESHPANDE
Fantastic recipes, really I have got good inspiration from your recipes.
Steven Pennington
I'm very happy you're enjoying. Love hearing comments like this. Makes my day. Thank you
Karen
Recipe ingredient list says 1 cup powdered sugar, directions say add 2 cups powdered sugar, which is it?
Steven Pennington
Thank you for telling me Karen. It's two cups of powdered sugar. My honest apologies. I'll update recipe card.
Have a wonderful Sunday.