We Need the Funk

So many titles I could’ve gone with for this post:

• Play That Funky Music
• Gotta Have that Funk
• Won’t You Take Me to…Funky Town!

The last one might have been more fitting because there is actually a bar in Kansas City called Funky Town.  I’ve been there and it’s pretty fun.

Anyway a week sure does go by quickly, doesn’t it?  This week was busy for me at work and also at home.  Benzo and I have been trying to finish up our painting project while keeping up with regular household chores.  Then this week I finally had to buckle down to do our taxes.  I have never procrastinated on the taxes this long before!  I will actually mail them on Monday, the very last day possible. 

I was also asked this week to make a dessert to donate to a church event last night.  I love sweets and baking so I was more than willing to donate something.  The problem was, how to decide what to make?  I thought about it and finally decided to make Funk.  Funk is a bar-type dessert that I’ve had in my recipe arsenal since high school.  I don’t know how I’ve gone over three years of blogging without writing about it.  It’s unique and I don’t see it very often.  Whenever I make it I always get asked for the recipe.

The recipe came to me in my senior year English class in high school.  We must’ve been having a food day or this girl just brought these treats for fun.  She brought Funk that her mom had made and shared it with all of us.  Everyone ranted and raved about how good it was so the next day she brought in the recipe.  We passed it around the room and whoever wanted could copy it down.  Over 10 years later I still have that same note with the recipe pasted into my recipe book:

This recipe is not healthy, it’s not whole-foods based and it’s probably not good for you in any way.  But it tastes really frickin’ good.  😀

FUNK
Makes a 9×13 pan

1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups mini-marshmallows
1 10-12oz bag peanut butter chips
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
2 cups salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray.

In a bowl, combine cake mix, egg and 2/3 cup butter with a mixer.  This batter is super thick and it’s very difficult to combine by hand.  I used my stand mixer, but a hand mixer will also work as that’s what I used when I was younger and didn’t have a Kitchen Aid.

Press cake mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Since the batter is so thick you’ll need to get in there with your hands.  Don’t worry about smoothing out the top or making it look nice.  We’re just going to cover it with a bunch of goodies.

Bake the cake for 15 minutes.  While it’s baking, combine peanut butter chips, corn syrup and 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium-low until melted and smooth.  Mine took longer than the cake took to bake, but that’s fine.

When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and pour 3 cups of mini-marshmallows over the top.  I like to smooth them out into a single layer and make sure all the holes are filled in with marshmallows.  Once the peanut butter sauce is melted and combined, pour it over the top of the marshmallows in the pan.  Then pour 2 cups of salted peanuts over the top of that, pressing them down gently so they stick to the sauce.

Let the whole thing cool completely and then slice into bars.  You’ll end up with this:

I forgot to take a picture of the Funk bars at home, so when I got to the church last night to drop them off I whipped out my camera phone and snapped a couple of pictures real quick.  My friend’s daughter was standing there with her mom and whispers “why is she doing that?”  LOL.  I didn’t want to explain the whole blogging thing to her so I replied, “I just like taking pictures of food, that’s all.”  🙂

More of a side view so you can see the layers:

What makes this bar so great is that it has the perfect mix of sweet and salty flavors. 

If anyone makes a similar type of bar let me know!  I’ve maybe run across it once at a potluck in the past ten years where I didn’t make it. 

Well I better get ready for church now.  After church we are celebrating Benzo’s Grandma’s 89th birthday with brunch with the family.  After that I’m hoping to weed the front flower bed and plant flowers.  It’s supposed to be a beautiful 70 degree day today, which makes it perfect for working outside.  Gotta take advantage!