Homemade Kit Kat Bars

Ever have one of those days where you wake up feeling completely exhausted, as if the 6 hours you had just spent tossing and turning in bed did nothing to rest you but rather left you with a rather large sinus headache?  That's how I woke up this morning when Matthew cheerily shoved my glasses into my face: "Up Mommy! Help make coffee! And cereal, please?"

Ugh. Duty calls.

The day continued to show no improvement:

• I burnt toast so badly that our finicky fire alarm went off (it didn't even go off when Paul set the stove on fire...and there were actual flames then).  

• Since I burnt the last pieces of bread in the house, I decided to eat some plain oatmeal for breakfast and immediately developed heartburn (who develops heartburn from oatmeal?!).  

• When pulling the laundry out of the dryer, I discovered that I had forgotten to put aside my favorite pair of pajama pants to be line dried and they had thus been reduced to a size befitting a female dwarf.  

• Matthew then asked me to put together a huge Winnie-the-Pooh shaped floor puzzle with him.  After about five minutes, he got sick of me trying to sort the edge pieces out and got up to turn on a compilation CD of the most obnoxious Disney songs every recorded.  As he danced around me, I was cussing under my breath at the stupid puzzle because it was definitely outsmarting me.  The fact that the box was prominently labeled "Appropriate for Ages 3-8" made me feel even more stupid.  When I finally got the dang thing all put together, Matthew swiftly ran up, patted me on the shoulder, and declared: "Yay! You did it Mommy!"  Then he proceeded to stomp on it and tear it apart.  That was an hour well spent.

Considering my inability to operate a toaster and put together a simple toddler floor puzzle, it's a good thing that the next cookie recipe on my list was so dang simple.  And did not involve the oven. Otherwise, we might have had a visit from our local Fire Marshall. 

I had a lot of fun putting these together with Matthew.  His main job was lining the pan with the Club crackers (and he did a fine job other than throwing in a couple that had obvious bite marks).  He also was in charge of quality control and thus tasted every single component before it went into the cookies (and I can confirm that he found the chocolate chips especially delicious).

I know most of your holiday baking is probably set in stone, but if you must make something a little bit different this season, give these cookies a try.  They are easy, delicious, and have that addicting sweet/salty quality.  While not exactly like Kit Kat Bars, the mild crunch from the Club Crackers is reminiscent of a Kit Kat Bar, but I would equate the flavor more to that of a Twix.  Either way, they are pretty addicting and will surely disappear quickly from the cookie jar!

Homemade Kit Kat Bars
from Paula Deen via Serious Eats


75 Club crackers
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Line 9x13 baking pan with one layer of Club crackers (you may need to break some to fit).

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, milk, and granulated sugar. Bring to boil. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat. Pour half of butter mixture over crackers in pan. Smooth surface with spatula.

Arrange another layer of Club crackers over butter mixture. Pour remaining butter mixture over surface. Smooth surface with spatula. Arrange a third layer of crackers over top.

Combine peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips in small saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over crackers.

Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate two hours (I actually recommend at least 24 hours before attempting to cut!).  Bars will keep for two weeks, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.