Fill a table at your Ugly Sweater party [1] with sweet treats for guests to snack on throughout the night. Stay away from serving anything too complicated or showy that will require more than a cocktail napkin for eating. Choose your favorite classic, holiday candies — red and green M&Ms, peppermint bark, candy canes, etc. — and serve along side one homemade dessert. These chocolate-peanut bars are a no-bake, delicious dessert. The combination of chocolate and peanut is always a crowd pleaser. For the recipe,

Chocolate Peanut Bars [2]
From Southern Living [3] magazine

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 (16-oz.) box powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafers, crushed (about 45 cookies)
1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Beat butter and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla wafer crumbs; beat until blended. Press mixture evenly into a lightly greased 13-x-9-inch baking pan lined with wax paper.
3. Stir together chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Spread evenly on top of peanut-butter mixture. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
4. Remove from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes or until slightly softened. Cut into 48 bars.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Print recipe with images [3] | without images [3]