Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Alright, so, yeah. I wanted to share a recipe with you of Oatmeal Bread, but as it turns out, I didn’t like it all that much. It was a quick bread of whole wheat flour, oats soaked in soy milk, almonds, and cinnamon. But it came out a little too dense. I know that by nature quick breads are much denser than yeast breads, but this was dense in a dry way, not in a yummy moist, dense, banana bread way. Boomer and I got through about half the loaf slathered in apple butter, and then gave up. Bummer. I’m new at the healthful baking, just gimme some time, I’ll get there.

So instead you get granola!

This is a very good instead. Not a consolation prize by any means. And if you do call it that… well, don’t.

Consolation prize makes it sound like you were told you would win a car, and then because you didn’t read the fine print, and came in second, you get a scooter. And not one of those cool Vespa scooters, a razor scooter. You know what I am talking about, those annoyingly cheap pieces of metal with two wheels that makes a racket when rolling down the pavem

ent that your children, and your friend’s children, and your nieces and nephews begged you to buy them, and then they broke a month later. Cheap pieces of….

*Refocus*

These granola bars are no razor scooter. They are peanutty, chewy, crunchy, sweet salty, goodness. Yum.

Here’s what you need:

I used this recipe as the foundation for these bars with some additions.

Look at all the stuff in there! Oats, flax, nuts, fruit, chocolate, peanut butter, and BUTTER, delicious.

Be advised the recipe below is doubled to fit in a 13”X9”. 9”X13” Whatevs.

Go. Make. Eat. Enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Vegetable cooking spray

2 egg whites

1 cup chunky peanut butter (I used smooth-it worked fine)

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2-stick) unsalted butter, melted

4 cups old fashioned oats

¼ cup Flax Seed

2/3 cup Trail Mix (I used nut and dried berry trail mix, but you could just use ½ cup of toasted nut of choice)

1/3 cup (heaping) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 13-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg whites until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and honey. Add the melted butter, oats, nuts, fruit, and flax. Stir to combine, then add the chocolate chips.

Using a rubber spatula, spread mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing lightly to form an even layer. Bake until the edge of the mixture begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares and serve.

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