These Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Bars start with a boxed cake mix with added peanut butter and an amazing homemade fudge filling!
FUDGE-FILLED PEANUT BUTTER BARS
I thought I would share another recipe from Grandma Betty’s handwritten cookbook. You might remember I shared another recipe of hers for BLUEBERRY CHILL BARS. They’ve all been winners so far! 
HANDWRITTEN RECIPES
The recipe is not written in her handwriting and it was on a slip of paper tucked into her cookbook. So I think this recipe must’ve been from a friend. And those are always the best kind of recipes, right?
VIDEO INCLUDED BELOW:
TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE:
- Don’t like coconut? Just leave it out.
- Don’t like pecans? Just leave them out.
- You can substitute crunchy peanut butter for the creamy if you prefer.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED:
for the crust and topping:
yellow cake mix
peanut butter
salted butter
eggs
for the filling:
semi-sweet chocolate chips
sweetened condensed milk
salted butter
sweetened flaked coconut
light brown sugar
all-purpose flour
chopped pecans
HOW TO MAKE THESE CAKE MIX PEANUT BUTTER BARS:
Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, peanut butter, butter and eggs until the dough starts to hold together. Mixture will be very thick.
Press 2/3 of dough into the bottom of prepared baking dish (setting aside the remainder for topping).
Prepare filling: In a medium sauce pan, combine chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and butter. Melt over low heat until smooth.
Then stir in coconut, brown sugar, flour and chopped pecans. Mix until combined well.
Remove from heat. Spread filling over dough in baking dish.
Crumble the rest of the dough evenly over the filling. Bake for about 20-25 minutes
Allow to cool. Then slice into bars and serve.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
BLUEBERRY CHILL BARS
HUMMINGBIRD CAKE BARS
CHUBBY HUBBY BARS
HOMEMADE KIT KAT BARS
CHOCOLATE MARBLE GOOEY BUTTER CAKE
Originally published: November 2017
Updated & republished: July 2020
FUDGE-FILLED PEANUT BUTTER BARS
Ingredients
For the crust and topping:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 2 eggs beaten
For the filling:
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 3/4 cup brown sugar tightly packed
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine cake mix, peanut butter, butter and eggs until the dough starts to hold together. Mixture will be very thick.
- Press 2/3 of dough into the bottom of prepared baking dish (setting aside the remainder for topping)
- Prepare filling: In a medium sauce pan, combine chocolate chips, milk and butter. Melt over low heat until smooth.
- Then stir in coconut, brown sugar, flour and chopped pecans. Mix until combined well.
- Remove from heat. Spread filling over dough in baking dish.
- Crumble the rest of the dough evenly over the filling. Bake for about 20-25 minutes
- Allow to cool then slice into bars and serve.
This grandma Betty’s recipe looks scrumptious!
Thank you Chef! 🙂
It’s crazy just this morning my husband mentioned these bars that my mom always baked and how he loved them. I told him she took that recipe to heaven with her! And lo and behold here it is! I may surprise him!
Nina – get out! Seriously?! Your Mom and my Grandma must’ve been chatting up there about these bars! Love that you found them again!!
HAHA!!! I loved that story. My name is Melanie and I have been called Mel for as long as I can remember. I watched a soap opera when I was ALOT younger and they had a girl named Melanie on there and she went by “Lanie” and I was so jealous. I wanted that to be my nickname…but now that I’m 40 I think that ship has sailed lol.
Hey, when you’re 12 years old, a nickname is a big deal! LOL. My family has always called me ‘Bran’, so of course, to be a rebel, I had to rebrand myself in 6th grade. So really, all you needed was an orchestra teacher who called you Lanie all the time. Ha!
Love your recipes! I’ve made many and never been disappointed. And here is another one I’ll be trying. Thank you.
Marnee
Your fudge filled pb bars sound yummy. If I leave out the coconut do I need to adjust any of the other ingredients? Thanks!
Oh WOW! I was just digging through an old recipe box today – loved seeing your aunt’s recipe in her handwriting. That’s so special! I’ve made something very similar to these bars (no cake mix – from scratch) and will try making these soon. Luscious. For some reason, when I was a kid my bus driver began calling me Mush…and it stuck, for years. LOVED your hilarious story! You funny funny girl. =)
Oops – sorry – GRANDMA Betty! Not your aunt…gotta keep these relatives in line. =D
Ha! I love it! What a great story Mush!
I have a recipe that is almost the same. It is from a cookbook called “Cooking With Quality”, which I got in the 1990’s. Quality Market was a supermarket chain in NY and PA. It no longer exists. I’ve made this many times. It’s called “Peanut Butter Fudge Bars”, and it looks exactly like your wonderful photo. Slight differences: For the dough, it requires 1/2 cup MELTED butter or margarine. For the filling, it requires 1 tablespoon of butter, same chocolate chips, same sweetened condensed milk. Melt over low heat in saucepan, stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in a tub of coconut-pecan frosting (the kind commonly used with German chocolate cake).. Assemble same as your recipe shows, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. These are wonderfully addictive!
Funny story~!
can you make this without the coconut?
Hi Mollie! I have actually never tried. I suppose you could.
Make these- absolutely scrumptious,
Hi Brandie, I love you and your Yummy recipes, subscribe to your emails and have been following you for a long time. I’m an avid cook & baker and have been for over 64 years, can you say Old? LOL Since I’m not a huge coconut fan I left it out and added finely chopped dry roasted peanuts to the fudge filling instead and they turned out awesome. Thanks for all the recipes you share with us and even more for the Love. <3 .