When I was a girl going to Grant Elementary School, in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio.
The lunch lady would make these wonderful treats and sell them for .25 cents each.
Hollywood Squares are way better than any peanut butter cup!
Every kid in school saved their pennies to buy a Hollywood Square!!
Heck! I even used to volunteer to help in the lunch line because they paid in Hollywood Squares!
When the school closed down she decided to make her "secret recipe" public.
Thank Goodness she did!!
These are yummy!!
Super -easy!
And a GREAT way to get your kids cooking in the kitchen with you!
Hollywood Squares
Ingredients:
2 cups peanut butter
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping:
2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp. peanut butter
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except topping ingredients. Mix well and press into a buttered 9-inch pan.
Melt the topping ingredients together (the microwave works well for this) and spread over the top of the peanut butter mixture.
Chill until topping is firm.
Cut into squares.
Enjoy!!
42 amazing comments. Talk To Me!!:
OH my! These look great. I am going to add these to my Christmas baking list NOW!!
Mmm, you just can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter..
Wow, those look great. Really rich and decadent, perfect for the holidays.
There really isn't a more perfect combination than peanut butter and chocolate. I can't wait to try these! Thanks so much!
Oh - those look so yummy! I *loved* peanut butter cups when I lived in the states.
For the benefit of us outside the USA, how big is a square of chocolate?
Clare.
Each square of semi-sweet baking chocolate is 1 ounce.
Hope you love these as much as we do!
There must be a secret lunch lady society where they swap ideas such as this. When I grew up in Northern California, I'd save .15 cents (I was in high school in the mid seventies) and get a Peanut Butter Square on the afternoon break. These are nearly identical to the type she made (they certainly look and sound the same) and I'm sure they are close enough to what I remember, to recreate my own high school experience. Thank you so much for the memory.
I just made these because your picture looked so good! I can't wait to taste them!
Oh my, what a small world. I'm from Stow, OH. Can't beat the lunch ladies.
Thanks for posting!
Did you double the recipe for the ones you made? Mine sure don't look as good and the icing is going to be thinnnnnn.
the batch I made yesterday was indeed doubled, and I used a 13x9 pan, the chocolate is thin. don't worry. :)
They are sooo rich, that I actually thought mine were too thick lol
Wow, I definitely need to try these. They look so simple, yet so elegant. Thanks for sharing!
-Kim
http://www.lovintheoven.com
Yes, they are super rich! I think mine look pitiful compared to yours. LOL!!
Great recipe though, a real keeper.
Wow!! Thank you so much...ours were called "Gold Bars" and they were awesome! I loved those in middle school and have been looking for the recipe ever since! thank you~~
OMG I grew up in MI and did the same thing scrapping pennies together to buy these at lunch and even helped in the kitchen to get one for free! Thank you for the recipe
THose look amazing. How can you go wrong. Hey- if the economy slams this may be a new way to pay people.
reese cups are my favorite candy so anything that resembles them definitely has my attention. i am definitely bookmarking this recipe for future reference-can't wait to try these out! YUM!
Reeses peanut butter cups are the only mass produced "candy" I'll eat. Love 'em cold & so you're telling me these are even better? I need to give these a try asap then! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
~ingrid
Man alive, these things are awesome!! I made them for dessert tonight and they were a big hit. They are SO SO SO rich though, just a small piece will do ya. I put them in a glass dish that is around 7x11 but I think they could have been pressed into a 9x13 with double the amount of chocolate topping (since it would be covering more space). This recipe is definitely a keeper!
YUM!!! :) I'm totally making these.
Thank You!!! I went to Elementary School in Hudson Ohio and loved Hollywood Squares. My mother learned how to make them from the lunch lady (forgetting the peanut butter in one memorable day!) but has since forgotten the amounts to make them. So thanks for helping me out to make these once again!
I grew up in Cuyahoga Falls Schools and could not wait for lunch when these were served. I have a little known secret though. Change the graham crackers to pecan sandies, even yummier if that is possible.
I also grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (I went to Lincoln)and remember buying the Hollywood Squares for a quarter, they were the best and I have been looking for years for the recipe. I am so very thankful I finally have found it.
I also went to Cuyahoga Falls schools Bode elementary and I can remember I would always buy lunch when these were on the menu. Thanks for putting the recipe out there. I am making them for Christmas treats this year.
Excellent site, keep up the good work. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,
A definite great read…
anti keylogger
I also went to school in Cuy Falls (Price Elementary 1977-1980) and Sill and the high school and everyone I know from this area calls them hollywood squares. They were the best!! Thanks to the lunch ladies who made them and thanks for paying us in these when we helped in the kitchen. My kids go to Price now and I don't believe they make these anymore, not healthy enough. I bought some recently at Totally Cooked on Front St and they were awesome! Nothing like peanut butter and chocolate!!
Reeces are a great sub. for hershey chocolate bars in smores. Thes are great! I remember making somethig like this as a kid but, it was in balls and rolled in powdered sugar.
I was just talking to some of my online friends from www.etsy.com and was telling them about Hollywood Squares. I did a google search and found the recipe on your blog...fantastic!!
I grew up in The Falls and went to Lincoln Elementary. Still live there today, and they still make Hollywood Squares in some of the schools. My son graduates from CFHS next week and he grew up loving them also.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
This is great, I searches for Hollywood Squares thinking I would never find a recipe. I went to Lincoln and also loved these. Thanks
Haha, I went to Lincoln Elementary as well. (I'm almost 30 now). I remembered these and wondered if a google search would turn up anything. It did. Thanks!
I made these last night according to recipe but mine seems to fall apart alot....any suggestions???
I went to Silver Lake in Cuyahoga Falls and LOVED these!
I just did a search for Hollywood Squares and came across your blog :) I had made my famous pb fudge & thought it would go great w/ a choc. topping (like the hollywood squares from elementary school) so I wanted to see what people typically use! We live in Cuyahoga Falls but I grew up in Kent City schools...where we had them too! Very small world!! Thanks for sharing!
What personalities did you like to see on the old Hollywood Squares show?
Bode,
St. Joseph,
St. Vincent-St. Mary
and finally Falls High....
I sure did miss the Hollywood Squares that LONG year in Akron LOL.
Thanks for the recipe!
I went to Grant, Bolich, CFHS too and loved those Hollywood Squares!
This is like a CFHS reunion. I was craving these and called my mom for the recipe out of the Price Elementery Blue Ribbon Cookbook (1987). That recipe does not call for the graham cracker crumbs, and if the ones at Price, Sill and CFHS had them I cna't tell the difference. Still, these are a memry from my childhood (but I try to ony make them once a year)
What personalities did you like to see on the old Hollywood Squares show?
What personalities did you like to see on the old Hollywood Squares show?
Thanks for bringing back some great lunch room memories. Does anyone remember another Cuyahoga Falls school lunch tradition - Johnny Marzetti? Did your lunch lady happen to share the recipe for that? Congratulations on a great blog.
Hi -
I work at Hudson High School and our special ed students run "Sweet Sensations Cafe." We sell Hollywood Squares twice a week to staff and students. We also cater the bars, selling by the dozen. If anyone has ideas on making the bars healthier, please email me at drohant@hudson.edu because we're trying to alter the recipe.
I am making these for easter...I raised my kids in cuyahoga falls, tho they are 24 and 25 now..they remember hollywood squares as I do made long ago in brimfield..thank you for the recipe
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