Rocky Road Heart Bars

First, let me warn you - these bars are NOT for the faint of heart, or those that are on a diet.  But they ARE freaking delicious.  And adorable.  Wouldn't you love to be my coworker, devouring one of these tomorrow? Here's what you do.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (heaping) tbsp Nutella
• 2 (heaping) tbsp Peanut Butter
• 2 squares Bakers Chocolate (bittersweet)
• 1/2 cup of "mix ins"

Method:

1. First, prep your workspace by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper (you can spray it with cooking spray if you prefer).
Using a double boiler (or a pot with simmering water, and a stainless steel bowl sitting on top), begin melting your butter, Nutella, peanut butter and bakers chocolate until it's smooth (see picture at right for consistency).

2. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat, and add in your "mix-ins" - I used marshmallows, nuts and red m&m's.  Spread your mixture over the baking sheet, and spread some extra nuts/chocolates/sprinkles/whatever over the top of the chocolate.  Allow it to cool.  (I placed it in the fridge for about an hour, or maybe 2?)

3. Once cooled, use heart-shaped cookie cutters to press out heart shaped bars out of your chocolate mix.
One thing of note - this mix could probably use some sort of chocolate stabilizer, but I don't have any.  I would recommend either adding some in, if you have it, or keeping these in the fridge until right before you serve them.  They are pretty "melty" ... but delicious!


This recipe made 12 hearts, plus a little extra (I took my scraps and put them in an oven/microwave safe Pyrex dish, melted them down in the microwave to smooth them out a bit, and put them back in the fridge).  This doesn't have to be a Valentine's thing - at any other time of year, you can use any sort of cookie cutter, or even just cut them into squares.