Today is National Peanut Butter Day! As I was getting all the ingredients out to make something peanut butter related to share with you, Mr S said I was making it up! I told him to go and look on the MyLegoman Mostly Foodie Days Of… Calendar and it was there for January 24th. So I was right!

I must admit I love peanut butter, but don’t like the cheap versions full of sugar you can get. I prefer the sugar free varieties and even better if it’s crunchy! I know it can be a love or hate thing and I know that the texture of it can put people off.

When thinking what I could make to celebrate Peanut Butter Day, I thought of the cakes and cookies I have made before. One of my favourites has to be the Nigella Lawson’s Peanut Butter Square recipe which is in her How To Be A Domestic Goddess recipe book. The Domestic Goddess book was the book which got me into baking big time back in 2004 when my youngest child started school.

Nigella says “I don’t know if you have ever eaten Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups but these are a homespun version of them,” They definitely capture the same flavours but as a double layered square, rather than a cup. I personally find Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups far too sweet and sickly but I love the flavour combination of peanuts and chocolate.

I can’t find the recipe link online but I have found a very similar version on Nigella’s website:

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-peanut-butter-cups

What’s more, it doesn’t require any baking! You just line a 23cm/9″ square tin with baking parchment and press the peanut butter base into the bottom of the tin. This consists of brown sugar, icing sugar, butter and the peanut butter. Finally, you top with melted chocolate mixed with a little bit more butter. After letting it set, you cut into small squares!. What made me laugh was Nigella says it makes 48 squares! I cut it into 16 and they were quite small. So 48 squares would have been miniscule!

Before I had even cut the Peanut Butter Squares up, my kids were asking to try some. My daughter took some with her in a plastic box as she was going over to her mates’ house for the night. I sneaked a small piece and it was oh so sweet but tasted heavenly as well. I’m hiding the rest of them or I might find myself sleepwalking down to the kitchen and eating them in the middle of the night!

Happy Baking!

Love Sam xx