Eight ingredients and no oven, though the fridge needs three hours.
There is no chocolate in these, which is unusual for a peanut butter square and entirely deliberate.
Why This Recipe Works
- Melted butter binds the graham crumbs into a base that holds when cut.
- Cream cheese firms the peanut butter layer so it sets without gelatin.
- Powdered sugar dissolves smoothly where granulated would stay gritty.
- Folding half the marshmallows through puts them inside as well as on top.
- Three hours in the fridge is what makes the squares cut cleanly.
Ingredient Notes
- Creamy peanut butter
- A cup and a quarter, and the centre of the dish. This recipe contains peanuts.
- Mini marshmallows, divided
- Two cups: one folded through the layer, one pressed on top. All of them stay whole and un-melted.
- Graham cracker crumbs
- A cup and a half with five tablespoons of melted butter, pressed firmly into the base.
- Cream cheese
- Eight ounces, softened. It is what sets the peanut butter layer firm enough to cut.
How to Make It
An 8-inch pan lined with parchment
Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment.
Graham crumbs and butter pressed firmly in
Mix graham crumbs with melted butter and press firmly into the pan.
The peanut butter layer beaten smooth
Beat peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
Half the marshmallows folded through
Fold in 1 cup mini marshmallows and spread the mixture over the crumb base.
The rest pressed whole over the top
Press the remaining whole mini marshmallows over the top.
Three hours cold, then cut
Chill at least 3 hours until firm enough to cut; keep refrigerated.
Two Layers, and Nothing Is Ever Heated
The only warm thing in this recipe is the melted butter in the base. That single fact explains the marshmallows, the set, and the three hours - because with no oven and no gelatin, the fridge is doing all the structural work.
What is deliberately missing
NO CHOCOLATE OF ANY KIND. That is unusual for a peanut butter square - most versions carry a chocolate top or a drizzle. This one does not, and adding it would change the dish.
1 cup pressed WHOLE on top
The remaining mini marshmallows pressed over the surface. Pressed rather than scattered, so they anchor into the soft layer and stay put when the squares are cut. They stay WHOLE AND UN-MELTED - which follows automatically here, since nothing in this recipe ever meets heat.
1 cup of marshmallows folded INSIDE
Folded through the mixture before it is spread. This is why the layer is STUDDED THROUGHOUT rather than merely topped - half the marshmallows are suspended in the set layer itself. Folded, not beaten, so they stay intact.
The set layer - cream cheese is the structure
1 1/4 cups CREAMY peanut butter beaten with 8 oz SOFTENED cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp salt UNTIL SMOOTH. There is no gelatin here and no cooking, so the cream cheese is what makes this cuttable - it firms as it chills in a way peanut butter alone never would. Powdered rather than granulated sugar because nothing will ever get hot enough to dissolve crystals. And softened is not optional: lumps of cold cream cheese beaten into peanut butter stay lumps forever.
Base - graham crumbs pressed FIRMLY
1 1/2 cups of GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS with 5 tbsp of MELTED butter, pressed firmly into a parchment-lined 8-inch square pan. The base is graham crumb, not crushed cookie or oats. Firmly is the instruction that matters: a loosely pressed base has nothing holding it together once the butter re-solidifies, and it crumbles away from the layer above the moment a knife goes through.
Success Tips
- Press the base hard and evenly or the squares crumble at the edges when cut.
- Soften the cream cheese properly; cold cheese leaves lumps that never beat out.
- Give it the full three hours — an under-chilled square smears rather than cuts.
Serving Ideas
Sixteen squares showing two clean layers: the pale golden crumb base under the thick peanut butter layer studded with marshmallows, with more whole marshmallows pressed over the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this contain peanuts?
Yes. A cup and a quarter of creamy peanut butter is the centre of the recipe.
Should there be chocolate on these?
Not in this one. No chocolate of any kind belongs here, which is unusual for a peanut butter square and is part of what this recipe is.
Do the marshmallows melt?
No. Nothing is heated at any point — they stay whole both through the layer and on top.
