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Dessert

Frosted Peanut Butter Squares

A dessert made with peanut butter, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate topping.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Frosted Peanut Butter Squares

Oven350 degrees
Time18 to 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Remove wrappers from candies and chop candies into pieces.

  3. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Make and bake the batter

  1. In a small mixer bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar until well blended.

  2. Gradually add milk, eggs, and vanilla, beating until smooth and well blended.

  3. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt, then add to butter mixture and beat until well blended.

  4. Spread batter into prepared pan.

  5. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Make the topping and finish

  1. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

  2. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter.

  3. Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute; stir.

  4. If necessary, microwave at HIGH for an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each addition, until the chips are melted.

  5. Add powdered sugar; whisk until smooth and of spreading consistency.

  6. Spread Chocolate Peanut Butter Topping over cake.

  7. Sprinkle candy pieces over top.

  8. Cut into squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1161Calories
36 gProtein
49 gFat
142 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Toppingnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Peanut + chocolatetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,279 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the squares together once baked.
Butter or margarine
Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the batter and topping.
Peanut butter
Adds peanut flavor and fat, giving the batter a moist, rich texture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the batter to help it rise and become light.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps it brown and stay moist.

The step that matters

Cool completely in the pan before frosting. The cake is soft and fragile while warm; spreading the topping before it cools would melt the frosting and tear the squares. Full cooling lets the structure set.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, flour, chocolate):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, flour, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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