My fascination with cooking came at an early age. It developed when I would watch my mother, grandmothers, and aunts cook and share recipes over the years.
Both sides of my family, the Glovers and the Boltons, were large families. We lived on the same dirt road as many of my Bolton family members and would visit my Glover grandparents house almost every Sunday afternoon, along with many other family members. I was never without a cousin to play with, and I cherish those memories. What I wouldn’t give for one more lazy Sunday afternoon at Ma and Pa’s house or a hot summer day on that old dirt road picking grapes off Bo and Papa’s grapevines.
When I was a little girl, Ma gave me an old Pillsbury Bake Off Cookie cookbook. The book is almost as old as I am, dated 1967. I didn’t spend a lot of time cooking when I was growing up. When I was old enough to help out around the house, my duties were dusting, washing dishes, and vacuuming. However, there was one recipe that Mama would let me cook, and I made it often. At some point Mama even allowed me to start making it without her help. That recipe came from that old 1967 cookbook that Ma had given me, and it was for Peanut Butter Fingers.
Until recently, I had not baked the tasty treats in years. The old cookbook has my childhood handwriting in it, and the page with the Peanut Butter Fingers recipe is worn and has vanilla extract stains on it. Just flipping through the book takes me back…way back!
The peanut butter fingers are chewy with a frosting of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and then topped with a sweet peanutty drizzle. It’s best to bake these in a 7 x 11-inch pan because baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan they tend to be a little dry. Watch closely and do not overbake.
- ½ c. butter, softened
- ½ c. creamy peanut butter
- ½ c. sugar
- ½ c. firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 c. rolled oats (I used old-fashioned but original recipe calls for quick-cooking)
- 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Drizzle:
- ½ c. sifted confectioners' sugar
- ¼ c. creamy peanut butter
- 2 to 4 tbsp. milk
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 7 x 11-inch baking pan and set aside.
- In a large mixer bowl beat butter until creamy. Add peanut butter and sugars, mix until combines. Add egg and mix well. Combine flour, soda, and salt, and mix into creamed mixture. Add oats and vanilla and mix until you have coarse crumbs. Press mixture into prepared pan.
- Bake at 350° F for 20 to 25 minutes. Watch closely because overbaking will cause the peanut butter fingers to dry out.
- Sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes. Spread evenly.
- Mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, and milk with a whisk or fork until smooth. Drizzle over the top.
