Disappearing Chocolate-Peanut Bars for a Covert Affair

Several months ago, I was asked by a website developer to contribute to a blog feature where recipes would be associated with  television programs. Unfortunately, the venture never materialized and I was left with a post in limbo. Because it was time sensitive and will now do them no good, I decided to share it with you tonight. I had great fun doing this and I hope you will have fun reading it. The bars are delicious and just the thing for a spy who has a weakness for chocolate and is about to go "dark".

As a fan of the espionage genre, I've spent winter in the cold, warmed only by the high octane plots of "Homeland" and "The Americans". Come summer, I'm ready for the warmer, more escapist antics of CIA operative Annie Walker and her unlikely handler, Auggie Anderson, a blind military intelligence agent who guides her through the often muddy waters of their craft. The pair are the lynch pins around which the fast paced and charming plots of "Covert Affairs" revolve. Both have pasts of their own and this season we are teased with the prospect that the two will become romantically involved. We'll have to see. There is a lot going on this summer and many of the episodes will be filmed on location, so the backdrops against which they are shot promise to be spectacular. There will be some familiar themes. We know there is another high-placed mole in their ranks and the torturous relationship between Joan and Arthur, their respective bosses, has to be resolved. That guarantees there will be no lack of angst in the episodes this summer. I am ready for it. You'll find me in my easy chair on Tuesday nights enjoying the capers of the bright and empowered Annie Walker, who, it seems, can do everything but cook. I thought I'd help her along with my recipe for Disappearing Chocolate Peanut Bars. Now you see them, now you don't, I think you'll find they're a perfect treat to enjoy while watching "Covert Affairs".

Disappearing Chocolate Peanut Bars

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup baking cocoa
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1-1/4 cups chopped salted peanuts
Icing
1-1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

Step 1. Assemble ingredients. Line bottom of a 13 x 9-inch pan with parchment paper. Generously grease pan and paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2. Combine sugar, butter, peanut butter, cocoa, eggs, egg white, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl. Beat until light and fluffy. Alternately beat in flour and evaporated milk just until blended. Fold in nuts.

Step 3. Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. While pan cools, combine milk chocolate and peanut butter chips in a microwave bowl. Cook on high for 1 minute and stir. Continue to cook in 30 second intervals until chips can be stirred smooth. Remove brownies from pan and spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares or bars.

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