As this food blog approaches its eighteenth turn around the sun, it occurred to me to conduct some market research (instagram story polls) to learn more about what on earth people want; especially since I am, if I may be blunt, not in a period of engagement that history books will recall as significant. Whether this blog is flourishing or flopping, I’ll still keep writing it because I genuinely love it — which means it can never truly flop — but there’s no harm in asking questions and selectively heeding their responses. Today’s recipe for peanut butter chocolate chunk squares doesn’t, alas, meet any of the data’s findings, but it is what I had prepared for this week, and even if not data-informed, it is — of course! — delicious.

So, before we get into it, what did I learn?

• 59% of people like and want more video content, to which I say…maybe
• 69% of people want more vegetarian or vegan recipes, the rest wanted meat (note: meat was in capital letters)
• Around 8 out of 10 people would prefer practical, sheet pan/one-pot weeknight dinner-type recipes over more whimsical recipes
• In terms of inspiration-seeking, around half wanted big dinner ideas, over a third wanted more snack ideas, and the remainder were seeking baking and dessert ideas
• 75% of people are only feeding themselves or one other
• In terms of food priorities: 71% are most feeling the cost-of-living crisis, 21% are after ‘healthy’ recipes and 8% are mostly wanting escapist levels of sugar

Despite my insistence that I do what I do and answer to no-one, I valued and appreciated the responses and this is all — sorry — food for thought. You can expect to see more responses to these responses and some of these preferences emulsified into upcoming recipes on here; I’m already brainstorming and list-making.

Back to this recipe, it’s a spinoff of a spinoff — which in television terms is rarely promising, but recipe-wise, it’s the only way to fly. It started as idle musing on the deliciousness of this re-worked caramel slice biscuit base — which might seem like an odd focus when the caramel topping is the main event but bear with me — and morphed into these peanut butter chocolate chunk squares, which, with their tightly-bound ingredients which span the Udden-Wentworth scale, provide the texture my teeth crave. By which I mean, briskly crunchy peanuts, the clay-like bite of irregular chocolate chunks, the rattan firmness of oats and the sandy grit of the polenta, all glued together with peanut butter and actual butter.

I’m only a sporadic enjoyer of peanuts and chocolate together, but here is where the pendulum swings in its favour for me, and the texture is a significant part of this. And there’s a simplicity to these sturdy squares, despite my still not-yet-finished description, that is befitting the everyday peanut over one of its more more razzle-dazzle cousins. The method is also simple — again, despite my long instructions, it’s a melt-and-mix procedure — and the most difficult part is waiting for them to cool in the fridge before slicing so you can truly enjoy the solidified chocolate sliding against the salty peanuts and the crisp, corn-sweet edge that the polenta lends each slice.

For more recipes that take advantage of this combination, I recommend this peanut butter chocolate chip snacking cake, which I suppose this recipe is a streamlined relative of; these small batch peanut mocha cookies, and this chocolate caramel rice bubble slice.

Novel watch: Manuscript editing and cover image exploration is underway! Speaking of market research, I’m toying with putting together a low-key mailing list for ongoing updates, surreptitious reveals, tie-ins and advanced information for those keen to be informed. I will create an actual form so people can officially sign up for it — compliance is my watchword — but also feel free to just email or message me via whichever way you usually would to register your interest.

Peanut butter chocolate chunk squares

A sturdy, textural slice that makes the most of that classic pairing of peanuts and chocolate via a straightforward melt-and-mix method. Recipe by myself, but inspired by the biscuit base of this caramel slice.

• 150g butter
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 75g brown sugar
• 75g caster sugar
• 100g crunchy peanut butter
• 75g whole oats
• 100g fine polenta
• 100g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 75g salted peanuts
• 120g milk or dark chocolate

1: Set your oven to 180C/350F and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.

2: Melt the 150g butter in your usual fashion — my apartment doesn’t have a microwave so I usually melt it in a pan that’s large enough to hold whatever else I need it for, or if that pan is lying reproachfully in the sink unwashed, I might melt it in a bowl over a simmering pot of water, though simply washing the pan would be much easier. Finally, this may seem like overexplaining but nonetheless here I am, if you are melting the butter on the stove top, remove the pan from the heat once you’re done and turn it off.

3: Stir the tablespoon of golden syrup into the melted butter, along with the 75g each of brown and white sugar and the 100g peanut butter, which I imagine will take a bit of spatula work to properly excavate from the vessel you measured it into.

4: Into this mixture, stir the 75g oats and 100g each fine polenta and flour, along with the teaspoon of baking powder. Stir in most of the 75g salted peanuts, reserving a small handful for sprinkling on top.

5: Roughly chop your 120g chocolate into smallish chunks — about 1cm square is a good size, but the joy of hand-chopped chocolate chunks is their irregularity. Note, I’ve got you to chop your chocolate here instead of at the start, because this gives the mixture another moment to cool down further before you stir in this melt-able ingredient. A little residual melting here and there is fine, but the structural integrity is important. As with the peanuts, stir most of the chocolate chunks into the mixture, reserving a small quantity for going on top.

6: Tip this chocolate-studded mixture into your prepared tin and press down with the back of a spoon into an even layer. Scatter over the remaining peanuts and chocolate chunks, pressing them down a little with the same spoon. Bake for 11 minutes, then let cool and — sorry — refrigerate until chilled before slicing. It’ll still taste delicious warm from the oven, but it will crumble and you’ll miss out on the delicious solidity of the chocolate.

Makes 16 squares, presuming you slice it 4×4.

Notes:

• Crunchy or smooth peanut butter — whole or rolled oats — I’ve tried all combinations and the difference is a little more or less texture; that being said if you’re using smooth peanut butter I definitely wouldn’t skip the whole peanuts. If you’re using a little more or a little less of the chocolate and peanuts it really won’t make any difference; you could make this with quite a significantly smaller amount of either especially if you skip the reserved amounts that you scatter over.
• My butter, peanut butter, and peanuts are all salted, but if one of your respective elements is unsalted the rest should make up the salinity shortfall.
• For Americans, use light corn syrup instead of the golden syrup — not that it’s a 1:1, flavourwise — and I also understand your peanut butter sometimes has ingredients other than peanuts and salt in it; to that end I recommend using one that just has those two things in it.

music lately:

I Feel Love by Donna Summer, look, when that titular refrain resolves itself at 1:34 and elsewhere do you not feel like you’re about to ascend and evaporate into particles and become one with the clouds?

Danelectro 3 by Yo La Tengo, so warmly formless, like a jellyfish enjoying a sandalwood-scented bubble bath.

Walk Away by Sisters of Mercy, what a welcome monster of a song; the juxtaposition of Eldritch’s basset-hound mumbled lyrics and that waterblastingly-powerful guitar riff! And then here comes that ultimatum-rich chorus!

PS: As we enjoy our food we can’t forget those going violently without it. Though the people of Gaza are existing under barbaric cruelty with aid continually blocked, NZ-based humanitarian org ReliefAid’s Gaza Appeal continues to work to deliver water sourced and treated from within Gaza so give it if you’ve got it. I also recommend checking out BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Aotearoa and Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa for straightforward, targeted ways to use your lack of dollars, consumer-wise, to take action as well.