Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Coat a 9×13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs. It’ll be a stiff dough…use some muscle (or an electric hand-mixer).
4. Press about two-thirds of this batter into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake for 5-7 minutes, just until barely starting to set in the center.
5. While this is happening, pour the chocolate chips into a large microwave-safe bowl and dump the sweetened condensed milk over them. You don’t have to stir at this point. Microwave on high for 45 seconds. Now stir well. If the chocolate is not melted after you beat vigorously for a few seconds, heat it for about 10 more seconds, and give it another try. Once your milk and chocolate have become one deliciously melted mixture, stir in the vanilla.
6. When the peanut-butter base has finished its pre-bake, remove it from the oven, and pour your chocolate fudge evenly over the entire surface. It’s easier to distribute by pouring rather than spreading, so take your time and disperse the chocolate mixture as equitably as possible over the base. Don’t neglect the corners and edges. Use a knife (or an offset spatula, a.k.a., My Very Favorite Kitchen Utensil) if you need to coax the chocolate mixture a little.
7. Use your fingers to scatter small bits of the remaining peanut butter dough evenly over the surface of the chocolate.
8. Bake for another 10-20 minutes, just until the cookie dough is barely set in the center and the chocolate mixture is starting to crack. Under-cooked is better than over-cooked. If you err on the short side, you can call these “gooey” and “melty.” Whereas if you err on the long side, you’ll have to just go with “hard” and “dentally damaging.”
9. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. You can refrigerate these if you want to, but serve them warm or at room temperature. Or almost-hot right out of the pan five minutes after you yank them from the oven.