White Chocolate Almond Butter Squares

The nice things about these little bars is that you can make them up in a flash, no oven involved.  The classic peanut butter and regular chocolate version is made the same way, so mix and match as you  please.  These would be great topped with bittersweet chocolate.   I had some almond butter on hand, and I love the look of melted white chocolate, so these were born.

I lined my pan with waxed paper so I could lift the whole thing out after it was set for easy cutting.  You don't have to.

The only tricky part to these is melting the white chocolate for the topping.  White chocolate is much more temperamental than regular chocolate. There's a lot of controversy about this in the food world.  Some say you can't use the microwave, only a double boiler, others say you can't use chips because they don't melt well. (They're formulated to hold their shape when baked)
I used chips and the microwave---here's how:  Put the chips in glass bowl or measuring cup and microwave on half power for just 30 seconds.  Take out and stir, if they're not completely melted, put them back in for 15 seconds, and keep repeating until completely melted.  The chips are made to keep their shape, so they won't look like they're melting, but when you stir them they will.

This is a good one for kids and teens, they can whip it up after school using only the microwave for the butter and chocolate.  You can do it by hand, but it's even easier in the food processor.

White Chocolate Almond Butter Bars

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (grind your own with 8 full crackers, or use the boxed kind)
• 1 16 oz package of confectioner's sugar
• 1 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips 

In the bowl of a food processor put the crumbs, sugar and almond butter.  Pour in the melted butter and process till smooth.

Spread it out in your 9x13 pan.

Melt the white chocolate and spread it out over the nut butter layer.  Work quickly because the chocolate starts to set up right away.

Let it set for an hour before cutting it into squares. 

These make good little gifts for the holidays, the chocolate is firm so they'll stack and pack well. 

Notes:  I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pan.
Grinding your own graham cracker crumbs is easy and well worth it, the texture is finer and they're fresher.  Just use the mini processor.  You can smash the crackers in a baggie as well, but the processing produces a better result.
Nestle white chocolate melted easier for me than Ghirardelli.
No need to refrigerate these, they set up fine at room temperature.  I refrigerated mine and they became too hard to cut easily.  If you do refrigerate, cut them first.