Well lookie here.

If someone would have told me ten years ago that I would spend the majority of my time in a kitchen stirring peanut butter and butter together over a hot stove, I think I would have punched them in the face.

Mostly just out of disbelief.

Partly because I want to punch someone in the face just to see what happens. Not because I want to harm someone’s pretty face, but because… I want to like… see what it feels like. I think it’d really hurt my hand.

But this is totally how I found myself earlier this week.. standing over a hot stove stirring waaaaay too much peanut butter in a very large pot. A  gigantic part of me just wanted to sit on the seat of a pretty bay window (which I don’t have) and spoon this directly down my throat while staring out at the deep blue yonder.

I don’t know what that means but it’s what I wanted to do.

It was nearly impossible to resist.

So this normally isn’t my type of recipe – if I’m going to melt anything in a large pot with marshmallows it’s only going to be brown butter and crisped rice cereal – but the minute it popped into my inbox from a reader (thanks Jenn!), I could not stop thinking about it. So simple! So easy! So few ingredients! I tend to be more of a chocolate-in-your-face dessert person, but these were calling my name. Loudly.

Jenn told me how she was in charge of making desserts last year in the cafe where she worked and how quickly these were gobbled up. What Jenn also should have told me was that these make the ideal comfort food when you want to eat your emotions over the end of Desperate Housewives, a show you haven’t watched since 2005 but are still somewhat affected by, nonetheless.

Now here’s the thing: you really have to be a peanut butter freak. I mean, we’re talking SERIOUS freakery here. I almost swapped out the butterscotch chips for chocolate, but I didn’t even go there. Oh no I didn’t.

Holy mother of peanut butter.

Can a peanut butter dessert be rich? Because these are super, super rich and that’s the only way I can describe it. And super, super peanut buttery. Shocking, I know. But they are light too. Have I thoroughly confused your brain?

You certainly have to loooooove peanut butter in order to celebrate the deliciousness of these bars. That dude I live with isn’t a peanut-butter-in-dessert fan (yeah, what?), so after taking a bite he deemed this all mine.

Not a problem. Not a problem at all.

No Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares

makes one 9×13 pan

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 11-ounce bag butterscotch morsels

2 10.5-ounce bags mini marshmallows

Heat a large pot over low heat and add peanut butter, butter and butterscotch chips. Constantly stir until totally melted – this will take about 10 minutes, but eventually everything will melt. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for about 10 more minutes.

Fold in marshmallows until evenly coated and distributed – some may melt, and that’s fine. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray, then spread mixture in the pan. Let sit at room temperature for a few hours to firm up, or place in the fridge. I loved these refrigerated!

Ugh. So good.