No-Bake Creamy Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pudding Bars w/ Oreo Crust

No- bake treat= perfect for summer time.  Cold pudding like dessert= perfect for the hot summer days.  Crunchy Oreo crust= tasty texture. Peanut Butter and Chocolate combination= no better combination according to my taste buds there is .  

I came up with these No-Bake PB & C as my husband calls it, aka Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding Bars yesterday b/c Oreo cookies are on sale at Target this week for $2 (awesome!), I wanted to try out the new Reese's Oreo cookies, cold pudding as a dessert has been awfully appealing lately with the soaring temperatures in AZ, and really b/c I love making up new recipes. 

This Creamy PB&C Pudding Bars with Oreo crust is delicious, cold, and so so easy to make!  Plus, it is like a pudding version of a Reese's.  Delicious! 

If you are not a peanut butter fan or have nut allergies you could totally use regular Oreos and replace the peanut butter in the recipe with Cookie Butter from Trader Joes b/c that would be delicious!  Gluten Free individuals should use the GF Joe-Joes from Trader Joes and enjoy this pudding bar tastiness.

Now, my take of these Reese's Oreo cookies... they are okay.  However, to be fair I never eat Oreos plain, I only bake with them.  So, my skewed taste of the one cookie I had is probably not highly credible. They aren't bad, but I didn't have a "Wow!" moment eating them.  

On a positive side, and maybe b/c I get super exciting for baking items, I did try this Chicago Metallic Silicone Baking Mat in my 9x9 pan for the first time.  I got it at JoAnns, but the price on Amazon is cheaper than my coupon deal at JoAnns.    

I've used baking mats in my cookie sheets for years.  I love the way they bake the cookies evenly on the bottom.  I've also lined my baking pans with parchment paper so I could pull them out of the pan to either cool or cut easily like I do for this Peppermint Bark.  This baking mat does exactly what parchment paper does without the hassle of pulling out the parchment paper and getting it to stay in the pan.  However, you do have to wash this after, and you don't wash parchment paper so... you decide which is worse.  

I'm just saying I thoroughly enjoyed using this mat for this pudding bar recipe, and I plan to use it more often now b/c I can easily pull the finished product out of the pan, and cut/serve them all cute looking without the struggle of the first bar coming out ugly. 

Alright, onto the easy no-bake recipe deliciousness...

Creamy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding Bars
Recipe: Alohamora
Active Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 4+ hours
Servings: 8-10

Ingredients: 
For the Crust:
1 pkg Oreos (Reeses, PB, plain, or double stuff)
1/4 c. butter, melted

For the PB layer:
1/2 pkg (4oz) cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1 c. peanut butter, creamy
1/2 container (8oz) of cool whip 

For the Chocolate layer: 
1 box (5.9oz) chocolate pudding, instant
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 container (8oz) of cool whip

Directions: 

1. In a 9x9 inch pan line with parchment paper or baking mat.  Though, neither are necessary. 
2. Crush 18 Oreo/chocolate sandwich type of cookies using a bag and rolling pin or a food processor to speed up the process. 
3. In a small bowl stir to combine the crushed Oreos with the melted butter and press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan using the back of a spoon or your hand. 
4. For a true no-bake place the Oreo crust into the fridge for 1 hour.  However, to speed the setting of the crust up you can bake it at 325 for 10 minutes. 
5. Place pan aside or in the fridge to cool while you make the peanut butter and chocolate layers.  
6. In a medium bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar, milk and peanut butter together for about 2-3 minutes until it is smooth. 
7. Stir half of the Cool Whip container into the peanut butter mixture and set aside. 
8. In another medium bowl whisk the chocolate pudding and milk together for about 2-3 minutes or until smooth. 
9. Stir the rest of the Cool Whip into the chocolate pudding and set aside. 
10. Evenly layer the peanut butter mixture over the Oreo crust in the pan, and then layer the chocolate pudding on top of the pb layer.
11. Finally, roughly crush at least 4 Oreo cookies, but you can do more, and evenly distribute them on top of the pudding mixture.  
12. Refrigerate the pudding bars for at least 3 hours before serving. 
13. Store leftovers in the fridge. 
14. Enjoy! 

Happy Creamy PB&C Pudding Bars eating that is cold, delicious, easy to make, and perfect for a hot summer day!