Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Don't you find that every time you do something for a great cause, even if it takes a big chunk of your day, you feel richer afterwards? That's how I felt a couple of weeks ago when I was part of a massively successful bake sale for Share our Strength, where we raised over $3,500 to alleviate and prevent childhood hunger! That's 35,000 healthy meals for kids who need them.

Food writer, blogger and master of charcuterie and canning, Cathy Barrow, aka Mrs. Wheelbarrow, pulled together about 25 food bloggers in the DC area to host a giant bake sale as part of Share our Strengths Great American Bake Sale.

We set up shop in the Washington Post building, and Cathy even recruited a guy to dress up as a giant cookie to bring in additional buyers off the street. Cathy didn't realize when she scheduled the sale that it coincided with Take Your Child to Work Day, so that meant lots of parents buying goodies for the kids that had accompanied them to work that day (and maybe a goody or two for themselves)!

Because these were food bloggers, the delicacies weren't your typical Rice Krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies. At this sale, you could buy hibiscus syrup, jam tartlettes, lemon and lime sugar cookies, chili chocolate caramels, cherry chocolate macadamia nut granola, pine nut brittle, and alfajores (South American dulce de leche cookies).

You might also like to try Mrs. Wheelbarrow's recipe for Jam Tartlettes, one of which I devoured later that day. This summer, perhaps you and your child and their friends could pull together your own bake sale to support Share our Strength or another great cause. Sure, it takes some doing, but the rewards and memories are limitless. You can find suggestions for hosting a successful bake sale, plus additional recipes here. Because I knew that this crowd was likely to make some pretty unusual treats, and because I favor recipes that deliver a lot of pleasure for very little effort, I made these peanut butter bars, adapted from a recipe that has long been passed around my temple for special events. I was a little nervous to be baking with this talented crew, so I was relieved to find that my bars sold out quickly.