In my continuing search for tasty delights that can be eaten on the trail on ski trips, I decided to revert to a old standby, the “fatbar”. My last 40 mile day ski was a bit calorie deprived near the end, probibly due to getting sick of trail food.. even fruit pies loose their appear after a while. Alas, most common treats are pretty much inedible at <0F temps. Powerbars turn into bricks. Snickers turn into iron bars of teeth breaking hardness. Even the best candy bar looses its appeal when you have to suck on it for a extended period to warm it up enough to chew.. so thus the fatbar! Fatbars are sort of a soft cake like thing that has soo much fat and sugar it never really freezes and is soft and edible at cold temps. At -30F its fairly hard, but still chewable, rather than jaw breaking hard like lots of other treats.
Here is a how to, with my assistants, Molly and Lizzy.
First you mix up 2 eggs, 1cup pb, and 1/2 butter:
Next add the cake mix:
Stir and press into the bottom of a 9″by11″ pan:
Next mix up the filling, starting with the ingredients below, and adding whatever comes to mind, though if the goal is winter trip food keep in mind the ingredients should be eatable at cold temps – I would stick with chocolate, coconut, and other high fat foods. Substituting white chocolate is a good call.
Next pour the filling over the crust, crumble some crust over the top (optional), and then bake. After 20 minutes or so, remove from the oven and then cool. 
After its cooled, I transfer the fat bars to one quart bags for easy access snack rations.
These snacks are surprisingly tasty, though I was somewhat surprised to learn that the recipe originated in the Mid West as a desert. I can’t imagine eating these things while I am not on a trip… so much fat and sugar..
Many thanks to Margret for the recipe!
The Recipe:
Bottom Topping:
1 package of yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
Filling:
2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut (optional)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, combine the bottom/topping ingredients. Stir until it becomes a dough that holds together. Press 2/3 of dough into the bottom of an ungreased 9 X 13 pan. (Reserve the remaining 1/3 for the top.) Prepare the filling by melting the chocolate, condensed milk, butter, and salt over a low heat while stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and optional coconut and/or nuts. Poor over the dough. Crumble the remaining dough onto the top. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool and cut into bars. Serves lots of people in town, and only a few hard-working winter adventurers.
Notes:
I substitute white chocolate chips, and add 2x to 3x the amount of coconut, and sometimes use almond extract rather than vanilla. Yum, yum!