Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

The teenage boys went on a camping trip with the youth group at church this weekend, leaving Robb and I home alone with the princess.  It’s a good thing she is not an only child, because she pretty much gets spoiled rotten when she’s the only one home.  Let’s just say, she has her dad wrapped around her little finger.  A few items on the “Spoil The Daughter Weekend” official to-do list:

• Dinner out.  She chose Apollo Burger, much better than the original idea, Wendy’s.  It’s a local chain owned by Greeks, so in addition to great burgers, they also have decent gyros, which is what I always get, and why I was thrilled to take her there.
• Shopping at her favorite store, Target.  Not. A. Problem.  We love the dollar aisle there.  And we got a salted pretzel.
• Movie night.  And not the $1 rental and popcorn at home variety.  “Brave” came out, and we were practically the first to see it.  (It’s cute, by the way, I would see it again.)
• While waiting for the movie to start, we had some fro-yo.  (I realize that I am old enough that I should probably be respectable and call it by its actual name, “frozen yogurt,” but how boring is that?)
• Baking sugar cookies.  Which she basically had to do by herself.  Because adults can only handle so much fun, and then they prefer to escape the activities for things like dishes and grocery shopping.

I kind of hate grocery shopping, by the way.  Except that I love the produce section.  It’s so pretty and colorful and fresh.  On this trip to the store, I bought both peanut butter and honey, a combination that set me back approximately $200.

I might be exaggerating, but only a little.

In addition to these lovely granola bars, Robb also requested peanut butter granola to eat for breakfast and second dinner.  Or third dinner.  (He’s been known to skip both breakfast and lunch, and eat three meals between 6 and 10 pm.  True story.)  It takes a lot of peanut butter to keep my house running.

One thing Her Royal Highness likes to do during our Mother-Daughter time is bake.  She helped me make some plain old chocolate chip granola bars, and when I told her that I didn’t have a recipe, but that I intended to make it up, she laughed at me.  The nerve!  Except, my bars turned out terribly, so I guess she wins.  Just don’t tell her I said that.

I decided that I prefer granola bars with peanut butter in them anyway, so I tried again.  Success!  They came out perfectly, all tasty and crispy-but-not-too and pretty.  It was a good day.  I am redeemed.

A word about some of the ingredients and tools.  Remember when I recently attended BlogHer Food Conference in Seattle?  While I was there, the people at Bobs Red Mill gave me some samples of Quinoa and Chia Seeds.  I was pretty stoked.  If you have trouble finding chia seeds in your store (I did) then you can leave them out, or substitute with flaxseed or sesame seed or whatever kind of seed you like.  I also scored this super fantastic double ended rubber spatula from Chef’N.  The small end was the most incredible tool for scooping peanut butter the world has ever known.  And, yes, you can press these into one end of your sheet pan, but honestly, you’ll be happier if you just use the quarter sheet pan.  It’s also perfect for holding those little corn tortillas, all rolled up, when they come out of the hot oil.  In case you were wondering.

Incidentally… I made them look pretty by smashing them flat with the backside of a pancake turner.  I recommend it highly.  Whatever works, right?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

 

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Cook time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

A crispy peanut butter granola bar with chocolate chips.

Recipe type: Snacks

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup peanut butter
• ⅔ cup honey
• 2 T. butter
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 T. chia seeds
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 2 cups quick oats (don't use the rolled oats here, quick oats are a must.)
• ¼ cup chocolate chips (approximately)

Instructions

1. Melt butter, peanut butter, and honey together in microwave just to soften and combine (about 30 seconds). Stir in cinnamon and vanilla.
2. Add seeds, nuts, cereal, and oats and mix with wooden spoon until everything is evenly distributed and well coated. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Press mixture into a quarter sheet pan. Use the backside of a pancake turner to press mixture flat.
4. Bake at 325 for about 10 minutes, until just lightly browned. Allow to cool and chill completely in the refrigerator. Cut into 18 long bars.

2.2.7

If you enjoy this recipe, you might also enjoy:

Peanut Butter Granola Balls from Two Peas and Their Pod

Coconut Ginger Granola from Jen’s Favorite Cookies

Almond Butter Granola from Peanut Butter Fingers

Yes, I did include links to my Amazon affiliate account.  I can only make money if you make a purchase.  I promise not to spend it all in one place.