My No-Bake "Peanut Butter Delight" Doesn't Even Last 10 Minutes in My House
If you’re looking for a new no-bake dessert to serve this season, let me introduce you to the world of delights. Delights, which also go by the name dream bars or lush, are stunningly layered desserts made with a buttery crumb crust, sweetened cream cheese, and whipped cream. Sometimes fruit is added, while a rich layer of pudding adds an extra layer of fluffy flavor in others.
This recipe for peanut butter delight is made by layering sweetened cream cheese, peanut butter pudding, and fluffy whipped cream over a simple peanut butter cookie crumb crust. The bars are finished with a peanut butter drizzle and crumbles of more peanut butter cookies for some crunch. It’s a dessert that will have all of your peanut butter-loving friends begging for the recipe.
Why You’ll Love It
There’s peanut butter in every bite. Made with a peanut butter cookie crust, creamy peanut butter pudding, a peanut butter drizzle, and peanut butter cookie crumbles, these bars are a PB lovers dream.
It’s a make-ahead dessert for any time of year. Peanut butter knows no season, and that’s perfect because that means you can make this dessert all year long. It’s best to let the bars set overnight for the cleanest slice.
Key Ingredients in Peanut Butter Delight
Nutter Butter cookies: These peanut-shaped sandwich cookies are used for both the crumb crust and the cookie crumble topping. You’ll have a few cookies left over from a 16-ounce package, perfect for nibbling while you assemble the delight.
Peanut butter: Whisk your favorite peanut butter into vanilla pudding to give it a rich and nutty flavor. (We taste tested 30 jars of peanut butter to find our favs.)
Vanilla pudding: Make sure to buy instant vanilla pudding (not the cook-and-serve variety), which sets up quickly when mixed with cold milk.
Cream cheese: A sweet and tangy layer of sweetened cream cheese adds balance to the bars.
Heavy cream: Use cold heavy cream to make the whipped cream. Thawed frozen whipped topping, like Cool Whip, can be substituted for the sweetened whipped cream.
If You’re Making Peanut Butter Delight, a Few Tips
Let it set up overnight. While the bars are certainly sliceable after 4 hours in the refrigerator, letting them set up overnight makes the slices more sturdy.
Use a warm, clean knife for slicing. To showcase the impressive layers of this dessert, run a long, sharp knife under very hot water, then dry before slicing. Make sure to wipe the knife clean after every cut.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Delight Recipe
These impossibly creamy no-bake bars are a peanut butter lover’s dream.
Prep time 30 minutes
Serves 12
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon cold whole or 2% milk, divided
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, divided
26 Nutter Butter sandwich cookies (about 13 ounces), divided
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided
Instructions
Line an 8x8-inch baking pan (about 2 inches high) with 2 sheets of parchment paper, positioning them perpendicular to each other, so that the parchment hangs about 2 inches over all 4 sides of the pan to form a sling.
Whisk 1 (3.9-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix and 1 1/2 cups of the cold whole milk together in a large bowl until the pudding is dissolved. Whisk in 1 cup of the creamy peanut butter until combined. Let sit to thicken while you prepare the crust and other layers.
Break 22 of the Nutter Butter cookies into pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs form, 12 to 15 (1-second) pulses (about 2 3/4 cups).
Drizzle 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter over the cookie crumbs, and add 1/4 teaspoon of the kosher salt. Pulse until it resembles wet sand and holds together when squeezed, about 5 (1-second) pulses.
Transfer the mixture into the pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup or your fingers to press the crumbs into an even layer, making sure to reach the edges and fill the corners. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
Beat 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream and 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar with the whisk attachment in a stand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes.
Transfer 1 cup of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture and gently fold together with a flexible spatula until just combined. Transfer the remaining whipped cream to another bowl.
Beat 8 ounces room temperature cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt with the whisk attachment in the now-empty stand mixer (no need to wipe clean) on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula halfway through, until light and very fluffy, about 3 minutes total.
Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the crust and spread into an even layer. Dollop the peanut butter mixture over the cream cheese mixture and spread into an even layer. Dollop the remaining whipped cream over the peanut butter layer and spread into an even layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
When ready to serve, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, and 1 tablespoon whole milk together in a small bowl with a fork until smooth. Transfer to a small zip-top bag, press down into a corner, and snip the corner off of the bag. Drizzle the peanut butter mixture over the delight. Crush the 4 remaining Nutter Butter sandwich cookies into coarse pieces and scatter evenly over the top.
Grasping the excess parchment, lift the slab out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 pieces, wiping the knife between each cut for cleaner cuts.
Recipe Notes
Heavy cream substitution: Replace the homemade whipped cream (1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar) with 1 (8-ounce) container thawed frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip.
Equipment substitution: If making the crust by hand, place the cookies in a sealed zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin into fine crumbs. transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl and add the melted butter and salt. Stir until the mixture resembles wet sand and holds together when squeezed.
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Further Reading
The “Beautiful” $3 Flower Tumblers at Walmart People Are Buying 2 at a Time
The One Cookware Brand That Gordon Ramsay Can’t Stop Talking About
