in the kitchen: peanut butter granola bars

They look pretty good, huh?

Wanna make them?

Get ready, because your house is about to smell amazing.  I baked these a couple hours ago and my house still smells like peanut butter.  In a good way.

I got this recipe from my sister, who got it from someone in her Bible study.  So yeah, can't take credit for it, although I want to.  The only thing I did differently was add chocolate chips!  I also baked these at 325 degrees instead of 300 degrees, but it just depends on your oven.  These bars come out firm around the edges but also very moist and chewy (in case you're not a fan of those granola bars that break your teeth).  :o)

The Ingredients.
Dry~
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like your granola bars
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Wet~
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup water

The Method.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well (clean hands work better than a spoon!).  The mixture should start clumping together pretty well.
Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray and fill each cup about half-full with the mixture, using a scoop or two spoons.  Press firmly with your fingers so the mixture is more like a solid cake (it helps if you wet your fingers with water since the mixture is kind of sticky).  Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown (just watch them to make sure they don't get overdone).  Let them cool completely in the pans before you take them out.
This recipe is enough for 24 bars, so if you have two 12-cup muffin pans you can bake them all at once.  Or, if you're like me and only have one muffin pan, you'll have to wait for the first batch to cool completely before you can use the pan again.  :o)


You can also add other nuts or some dried fruit to these....feel free to experiment!  I used creamy peanut butter but crunchy would also be really good.


Now go make them.  And enjoy some peanut buttery goodness.  :o)

Linking up to Creations by Kara!