When I first heard tale of these legendary bars, it was from my husband who’s school experiences with these bars closely matched the above description. Having never sampled one myself, I was curious to try these bars. So I set out to recreate the bars going off of a recipe I found online. They were delicious, but when I proudly set them in front of my husband he looked confused. “Our Peanut Butter Squares didn’t have chocolate on them,” he explained. What?! How could that be? My co-workers, also from the area, had described a buckeye-like treat in bar form, complete with a thin layer of chocolate on top.
As it turned out, my husband, who grew up on the West Virginia side of the mighty Ohio River, had a very similar bar as those who grew up just 15 minutes away in Ohio, except the West Virginia Peanut Butter Bars featured only a light dusting of graham cracker crumbs on the top of the bars. Meanwhile, rival schools in Ohio had the chocolate tops.
Oddly enough, I couldn’t find a recipe for any such bars online, but when I was relaying the failed recipe attempt to some friends from the area, one chimed in saying she had the exact recipe from a retired local school lunch lady. That recipe is what I present to you now and, after several taste tests by Upper Ohio Valley natives, I can say this recipe is legit.
Apparently, in this region, the only difference between the bars from one side of the river to the other is the use of either melted chocolate chips or graham cracker crumbs for the topping. As such, I am including both styles in the recipe.
Did you have these famous Peanut Butter Squares at your school? Let me know your story in the comments! I am curious to see how wide spread this phenomenon was.
Print
Prep Time:
Yield:
Print
PinDescription
These thick Peanut Butter Squares are the very same that were served at school lunch to kids all over the Upper Ohio Valley.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks soft butter
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter (i used jif)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 lbs powdered sugar*
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- or
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In an 8″ x 8″ or 9″ x 9″ square pan, make a sling out of parchment paper, with two sides hanging over the edge of the pan. Lightly grease the paper and sides of the pan.
- If using graham cracker crumbs instead of the chocolate topping, sprinkle half of the crumbs over the bottom of the greased pan. Skip this step if making with chocolate.
- In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, butter, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer.
- Slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time until the mixture resembles a dough and is no longer sticky. For me, this was at about 5-1/4 cups.
- Pat the mixture into the prepared pan and then top with remaining graham cracker crumbs. Alternatively, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted. Spread evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
- Refrigerate until chilled.**
- Carefully remove the bar, by lifting directly up on the parchment paper wings. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Notes
- The original recipe calls for 2 pounds of powdered sugar, however this turned out to be too much for my mixture and it was too dry. My advice is to add the powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach a nice cookie dough-like consistency that is no longer sticky.
- If using chocolate, it may be best to cut the bars before the chocolate is so firm it cracks. I recommend removing the Peanut Butter Squares from the pan after about 5 minutes by using the paper sling and then cutting into squares before refrigerating.
- These School Lunch Peanut Butter Squares keep for up to a week, covered, in the refrigerator.
Keywords: school peanut butter bar squares
