Crunchy Peanut Brickle Bars

The directions say to bake it in a jelly roll pan but I made it in a 9 x 13 pan and got just the right thickness for a bar cookie.  If you're a peanut butter lover, this is pretty good.  The peanut butter flavor comes across like in a regular peanut butter cookie but it has the added crunch from the toffee and the roasted peanuts.

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 ½ cups unsifted flour

1 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, melted

1 (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk

½ cup peanut butter

1 (6-ounce) package almond brickle chips or milk chocolate-covered English toffee candy bars, cut into small pieces

1.       Preheat oven to 375⁰F.

2.      In large bowl, combine oats, flour, peanuts, sugar, baking soda and salt; stir in butter until crumbly.  Reserving 1 ½ cups crumb mixture, press remainder on bottom of greased 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan.  Bake 12 minutes.

3.       Meanwhile, in small mixer bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk with peanut butter until smooth; spread evenly over prepared crust to within ¼” of the edge.  In medium bowl, combine reserved crumb mixture and brickle chips.  Sprinkle evenly over peanut butter mixture; press down firmly.

4.       Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool.  Cut into bars.  Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Recipe Source: http://pastrychefbaking.blogspot.com/2011/07/crunchy-peanut-brickle-bars.html