Peanut butter breakfast bars
So where should I start? Delicious Peanut Butter Bars or my Costco shopping cart confession?聽Let鈥檚 start with my Costco shopping cart and my embarrassing confession. I like getting the bad stuff out of the way first.
Deep breath鈥β�I, France Jeanne D鈥橝rc Morissette, creep on other peoples grocery carts.聽I know, I know! So bad but it鈥檚 true. Why am I telling you this? I must be sick in the head!聽It鈥檚 true. I do the grocery cart creep.
It鈥檚 terrible, I know, but it鈥檚 like this sick compulsion that I simply can鈥檛 resist. I鈥檓 fascinated by what people like to buy. What are they going to make with that? Is that their dinner? Do they know what鈥檚 in that?! Ooh, can I come over? That looks like it鈥檚 going to be good! I鈥檝e even contemplated being a cashier at a grocery聽store聽just to satisfy my curiosity. Rest assured, I haven鈥檛 let that compulsion get to that extent. No career changes, yet.聽
Now onto Peanut Butter Bars!聽Want to know why I love these bars?
OK, I鈥檒l tell you. They鈥檙e easy, fast and the ingredients are fairly flexible. You could literally make these at breakfast and enjoy them 鈥� for breakfast! Five minutes to prepare and mix, 15 minutes to bake, 5 minutes to cool (longer is better), you'll be eating one in 25 minutes. Of course these are also good as a snack or any ol鈥� time really.
Now about flexibility, feel free to play with the ingredients a bit. Try other dried fruit instead of raisins, you can use maple syrup as a sweetener. I鈥檝e given a few suggestions at the end of this post but I鈥檓 sure your creative minds will come up with all kinds of fun ideas.
Peanut butter breakfast bars
Makes 8 鈥済ranola鈥� sized bars or 16 squares
Serve these with a smoothie or a piece of fruit for breakfast on the run!
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup natural crunchy聽peanut butter
1/3 cup honey or agave
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups rolled oats (or quinoa flakes)
2 tablespoon flour of choice (whole wheat, spelt or gluten free blend)
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons hemp hearts (or sub in sunflower/sesame seeds)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (or sub in sunflower or sesame seeds)
Note: For a gluten free option use gluten free oats or quinoa flakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8- by 8-inch pan or bread pan with parchment paper or foil.
2. Melt the coconut oil so that it reaches its liquid state. In a medium size boil, mix oil, peanut butter, honey and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated.
3. Pour the mixture into a prepared pan. Press the mixture down using your hands or a spoon. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Cut into bars while still warm. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Not that they will last that long.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Substitute chocolate chips for raisins.
Cranberry Granola Bars
Substitute almond butter for peanut butter and dried cranberries for raisins. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
