Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 4:

Repeat Prototype 3, 12 oz. total of melted semi-sweet chocolate and all, but with a new approach. Give up on the crunch. But avoid the unsatisfactory texture of the seemingly soggy Bran Buds as well.

All of the ingredients, both for the crust and for the filling are ultimately mixed together before being put into the pan. But...the Bran Buds are finely ground in a blender to a flour-like texture first, before being added to the other ingredients.

Here is a suggested sequence (with the quantities repeated for convenience):

Soften: two 8-oz. packages of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (and set aside)

Grind: 1/2 package (i.e., 8.8 oz.) of Kellogg's All Bran Bran Buds (and set aside)
Make sure the Bran Buds are finely ground to a flour-like texture (use a blender or food processor).

Measure: 3/4 cup PLUS 2 tbsp. sugar
Add: 1 tbsp: skim milk
Add: 2 Teaspoons of vanilla
Mix together.
Add: 4 oz. creamy peanut butter
Mix together.
Melt: 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
Combine this with the sugar/milk/vanilla/peanut butter mixture (quickly, while the chocolate is still melted).

Next, add the softened cream cheese to the above mixture, and mix well.

Finally, add the powdered Bran Buds to this mixture, and blend well (plenty of effort needed here as the texture becomes stiff). Spread all this into a 13" x 9" pan (a good idea is to line it with wax paper first).

Refrigerate until firm, then cut into squares. Expect a somewhat fudge-like texture. Please keep in mind that sugar was used in this prototype (not Splenda).

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