The main reason I wanted to make these is because I was drawn to the name. Even though it has nothing to do with salt, it made me think of the Ocoee River and how much I miss the mountains and going rafting in the summers. Also, these involve chocolate and peanut butter, so…there was that.
These are super rich and also super delicious. Layers of salty Club crackers are divided by peanut butter chips and a sweet butter/brown sugar caramel sauce and it’s all topped with chocolate. I had to cut these into teeny tiny pieces because they were so rich. But oh my gosh oh so delicious and crunchy and chewy and salty and sweet all at the same time.
The main thing that I changed about the original recipe was the size of the pan that I used, and mostly because my one 8 x 8 pan was otherwise occupied. So I used a bit more crackers, which I’m sure resulted in a bit less sweetness per cracker, not that it matters much I’m sure.
Salt River Bars
adapted from Blue Eyed Bakers who adapted it from Bakergirl
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Wait Time: 3 hours
Makes: 20 large bars (or 40 small bars)
Cooking spray
1 box Club crackers (1 1/4 sleeves)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Course sea salt (optional)
1. Line a 7 x 11 baking dish with tinfoil so that the edges hang over the edge of the pan. This will make the bars easy to remove later. Lightly spray the tinfoil with cooking spray.
2. Line the bottom of the dish with club crackers (about 4 horizontal rows of 3 and 1 vertical row of 2). Sprinkle 1/3 cup of peanut butter chips over the crackers, spreading them out evenly.
3. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt together butter and brown sugar. When it is smooth and creamy and beginning to bubble around the edges, remove from heat. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the peanut butter chips as evenly as possible, using a spatula to spread it out if necessary. (As you continue to layer the crackers, it is best to keep the sauce of the heat, but if it becomes too thick, return it to the heat for a short time until it becomes thin again.)
4. Add two more layers of crackers, peanut butter chips, and caramel and top with one more layer of crackers.
5. In a medium sized microwavable bowl, combine chocolate chips and vegetable oil. Heat in the microwave until chocolate chips are melted, about a minute and a half, stirring at 30 second intervals. Pour melted chocolate evenly onto the top layer of crackers. If desired, sprinkle the top with sea salt.
6. Chill bars in the refrigerator. After about an hour, when chocolate has begun to set, pull them out of the refrigerator and cut through the top layer of chocolate (this will make it easier to cut later). Return to refrigerator and chill about 2 hours, until bars and set and can be cut through. To cut, lift the bars out of the dish using the tinfoil edges. Remove tinfoil and cut bars into small squares. Store in the refrigerator.
Your mom made these last week and I was lucky enough to stop by for a visit, they are great!