Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces turn these chocolate cake mix bars into a peanut butter lover's dream dessert. Make these Reese's Gooey Cake Bars for after dinner, and watch everyone go nuts for them.
Remember a few weeks ago when I admitted HERE that I was struggling remembering any kind of 9th grade science?
Well, it's gets worse people. Now I can't even do 4th grade math. Seriously! My brain has decided to go bye bye when it comes to scholastic anything.
Last night our youngest was working on a math sheet after dinner. All of a sudden I hear him yelling out for me to come make sure he is doing it right. That should have been my first clue to run as far away as possible. Math is not (and never was) my strongest subject. But...I headed into the dining room to see what all the yelling was about.
He showed me a math problem, and asked if he did it right. Clue number two to turn tail and run. Do I listen? Nope! I looked it over and promptly told him, he did it wrong. Then I tried to explain why I got a different answer from him. He starts arguing with me that his teacher told him to do it this particular way. Clue number three...if the teacher told him one way, I should just run and not even try to answer a math problem. Still not paying attention to the clues...
Again, I try to reason with the 4th grader. At this time my husband comes in to see what all the commotion is about. He looks the problem over and immediately tells me how wrong I am. Apparently I really have lost all concept of math. Maybe if it was just adding and subtracting, but no they had to go and add some parentheses and multiplying and dividing to said problem.
Next time I need to see the clues and back away as fast as possible from all math questions. It never ends well for me!
Now I have a fun math story problem for everyone:
Mom has 1 bag of Reese's peanut butter cups and 1 bag of mini Reese's pieces. She adds some of each to 1 cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick of butter. The bars take 30 minutes to bake, and 3 hours to cool and set. How many bars does mom share with the family that ridicules her math skills? The answer? 0!!!! Laughing family members get none, and mom eats all of them to get over her math shame.
Ok, fine I did share these gooey bars with my family. They devoured these bars as soon as I gave the okay to eat them.
There is just something magical about sweetened condensed milk and a cake mix. It bakes up so gooey and delicious!
Adding peanut butter cups to the middle was just the thing these chocolate bars needed. Make sure you freeze the peanut butter cups first though. The first time I made them, they kind of melted into the bars. Still just as good to eat, but not quite as impressive when you cut into them. Freezing the peanut butter cups helps them not melt into the dough.
Now who wants to buy a some bags of candy and work on math problems with me?
I got it when math involves baking!
Recipe
Reese’s Gooey Cake Bars
Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces give these gooey cake bars an extreme hit of peanut butter goodness.
Ingredients
- 1 chocolate cake mix
- 1 egg
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 16 regular sized peanut butter cups, frozen and unwrapped
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup mini Reese's Pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 pan with nonstick spray.
- Combine the cake mix, egg, butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat until a soft dough forms.
- Press half the dough into the prepared pan.
- Arrange the frozen peanut butter cups over the top of the dough. You may need to trim the edges of a few.
- Press the rest of the dough over the tops of the peanut butter cups evenly.
- Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the top of the dough. Sprinkle with the Reese's Pieces. Bake at for 30-35 minutes. They will look very gooey and undone.
- Let the bars cool completely before cutting into 16 squares. Store in a sealed container on the counter.
Notes
*The recipe says use an 8x8x2 pan...that means make sure the sides of your pan are 2 inches high, so the mixture does not bubble over!!!!
**Make sure you freeze your peanut butter cups at least a few hours before you start to make these bars.
***Make sure you also let these bars set completely before cutting into them. They will appear very gooey and undone, but do not worry. They will set up. I usually make them the night before and let them set up overnight before cutting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 148mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g
Other ways to enjoy Reese's that are kid approved in our house:
Marshmallow Reese's Blonde Brownies
Noelle
Thought this looked great for my husband's birthday. I'm sure it will taste awesome, but my Reese's Pieces melted on top. Any suggestions?
Jocelyn Brubaker
Hi, Noelle. I have made this a few times and never had the Reese's Pieces melt on top. Did you use regular ones or minis?
Ebony Lamos
Im trying it it looks delisious
Rex Marshall
next time I'll put the peanut butter cups on the first layer upside down. the second layer should go on easier. Just an idea
Tricia
Does the oven have to be preheated?
Jocelyn Brubaker
Yes, your oven needs to be preheated for anything you bake 🙂
Tricia
Thank you! I recently made a banana cake recipe from yellow cake mix and it said not to preheat so I was confused.
Jocelyn Brubaker
I always preheat my oven for all recipes, unless it specifically says not too. I actually have not seen many that say that though.
Julie
Oh, and one more thing. The cake batter did not need to cover the entire top in a thick layer (for those that feel you are short on batter). I just put a very think layer of dough on top, and filled in the holes between the PB cups. When the dough cooked, it expanded to cover the entire top. 🙂
Julie
Made these in a 9x9x2 pan and they worked out great. No overflowing at all. The only thing I can think of that may have caused that for people is if they tried to follow the cake box recipe instead of adding the dry cake mix to the stuff you say to add it to to make it a dough. Or, they may not have used a deep enough pan. I am at a high altitude and did not need to make any changes to the recipe, which was nice. Freezing the PB Cups for at least 4 hours is a must. I made it twice with great results both times. I cooked them 33 minutes and found they set up just fine within a few hours. They were a solid bar but the condensed milk make them soften up perfectly.
Allie
I want to send these to a friend for Valentine's Day in the mail, does anyone know how long these last or if they would even be shippable?
Jocelyn Brubaker
Bar cookies are great for shipping because they tend to be sturdier than cookies. I think as long as you pack them well, they would ship great. As long as they are sealed I would think they would last a week.
Deb
I made these yesterday and am already looking forward to making them again! Awesome is the only valid description. Freezing the PB cups before using them was genius. I have made a few recipes from your site and have enjoyed them all, but peanut butter and chocolate is my currant obsession so this was timed perfectly. I am very thankful that you continue to come up with these amazing new recipes!!
Makayla Simmons
When do you use the vanilla extract
Jocelyn Brubaker
Oh, I'm sorry I must have missed that step. Mix it into the cake batter.
Mallory
I made these today for my boss' birthday. Word to the wise have your insulin next to you and a dentist appointment scheduled lol. I ran into an issue of running short on the cake batter. Mine also didn't turn out very pretty and bubbled over the sides. The Reese's did stay somewhat solid though as I froze them over night. And the center of the bars I'm the pan had like sink down in. They cut okay although I did put them in the freezer to help with the setting process.
Jocelyn Brubaker
Yes, they are very sweet with all the candy and sweetened condensed milk. How deep was your baking dish? Mine has never bubbled over the edge...mine is 2 inches deep. It sounds like maybe you had a little bit more in the bottom of the pan before adding the candy. Did they at least taste good?
Desiree @ The36th Avenue
Thank you so much for linking up with the Party Bunch! I am featuring your delicious recipe today… Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
Besos!
Desiree
Jocelyn Brubaker
Thanks Desiree!!
Erin @ Making Memories
Oh my gosh, I'm totally making these for Thanksgiving. YUM!!!! And your math story problem was a riot! That'll teach them =o)
Jocelyn Brubaker
Thanks Erin!! Let me know how you like them!!
Gary
Oh yes, the pictures look delicious.
However I followed the recipe to a T and all I got was a big watery, goopy mess. The Reese's pieces sunk completely into the mix 10 minutes into baking, the whole mix bubbled, overflowed, and made a mess in my oven, and regardless of freezing the cups prior to baking the cups still ended up completely melting in the goop. The recipe is a total disaster and a waste of money.
Jocelyn Brubaker
I am so sorry to hear that they did not work for you, but I have made these and a few other variations with absolutely no issues. Never once has it bubbled over in my oven!! How deep is your 8 inch pan? Mine is at least 2 inches deep, so maybe that was the problem there. As for the peanut butter cups melting into the bars, they shouldn't have if they were completely frozen. Also how soon did you cut into the bars? They need to sit for hours before you cut them. I actually make them the night before and then cut them into bars the next morning. My guess is that the bars didn't set long enough.
Wendy
The funny thing, Jocelyn, is that you serendipitously discovered what I think is the secret to math. Candy. When I was teaching 5th/6th grade math, we used candy all the time as manipulatives to figure out math problems. The candy offers a visual first then a reward or consolation later! 🙂 I think I still see m&m's in my head when I do multiplication! Once my kids got to high school though, math homework was out of my league and beyond the help of candy except for the consolation part! These bars look chewy wonderful! Thanks for the tip on freezing the Reeses cups. I think the peanut butter cups are the standout feature!
Jocelyn Brubaker
I love the way you taught!! Thanks Wendy!!
Sandra
My daughter has been looking for a recipe like this and I just sent it to her. Math is no my strong suit either. Thank goodness for calculators and gooey bars!
Jocelyn Brubaker
Amen to that!! Thanks Sandra!! 🙂
Renee @ Awesome on $20
I married a man with a physics degree so I never have to do math ever again. Unless it's baking math that ends in this! Looks great!
Jocelyn Brubaker
Lucky you!! 🙂 Thanks Renee!!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust
You have no idea how much I love these. 🙂 Now that's the kind of math I LOVE - not the boring subtraction we're stuck in now!
Jocelyn Brubaker
Haha, thanks Dorothy!!
Samantha @ Five Heart Home
Math was not my favorite either, Jocelyn. I'm dreading the day when I have to remember it beyond the first grade level...that's the grade that I taught, and that's the grade of my eldest right now, so it's the highest level I've had to worry about since college! 😉 Your Reese's bars look fantastic, though...sharing on FB today to make some people very happy! 🙂
Jocelyn Brubaker
Oh no! Good luck to you girl! 🙂 Thank you so much Samantha!!
Chels R.
This is why I don't teach math to my 4th grader. Where she's at, it's just over my head. I took the required classes in H.S. and was done after that. Josh does the math class with Grace at 5am and then all I have to do is check her work against our books. If she has questions, I call the husband at work or we deal with it when he gets home, lol! Doing math was the one thing I was most scared about when we made our choice to homeschool. But Grace is doing a fab job! LOL! I love these cake bars! So so yummy looking. I don't know how you are refraining from trying everything. I could not do the clean eating thing at all! Kudos to you!
Jocelyn Brubaker
That's awesome that she's doing so well! I'm glad we both have hubbys that know what they're doing! 😉 Thanks Chels!!
Susan C.
Reese is probably my favourite candy chocolate out there. This is definitely on my list to make!
Thanks for sharing!
-Susan | Susan Loves...
Jocelyn Brubaker
It's mine too!! Thanks Susan!!