Retro School Cafeteria Peanut Butter Bars

It's taken me a while to find this recipe. There are many versions of "the peanut butter bar" but, I believe this recipe comes the closest to what I remember eating in the 1960's (via our elementary school lunchroom). Boy those ladies could really cook back then!

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Calories: 388 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• ¾ cup peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ⅛ cups white sugar
• 1 ⅔ cups rolled oats
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk, or more as needed
• 1 ⅛ cups brown sugar

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 15x10-inch baking pan.

Step 2

Cream white sugar, brown sugar, butter, and eggs together in a mixing bowl. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla extract. Add flour and blend well. Add oats, baking soda, and salt and mix to combine. Spread into the prepared pan.

Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool or chill in the refrigerator, about 30 minutes.

Step 4

While bars cool, blend powdered sugar, butter, milk, and peanut butter together in a bowl, adding more milk to give frosting the desired consistency. Frost cooled bars and cut into 20 pieces.