Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats
- 3/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed
- 1 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oats and toast, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a bowl along with the crushed peanuts.
- In a small sauce pan, combine the peanut butter, brown rice syrup, vanilla, and salt. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the brown rice syrup easily combines with the peanut butter, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour mixture over the oats and stir until well combined. Mixture will be a bit stiff and switching to using your hands may be easier.
- Line an 8x8 pan with parchment and transfer the mixture to the pan. Using extra parchment, press the mixture into an even layer. Place in the refrigerator (or freezer) and allow to cool but not freeze, roughly 30 minutes in the freezer or one hour in the refrigerator .
- Place chocolate in a double broiler and heat over medium-low heat until chocolate has melted, scraping the sides and bottoms of the double broiler as it melts. Keep the chocolate over the water.
- Remove the granola bars from the pan and cut into 16, 1" wide and 4" tall bars. Dip the bottom half of the granola bar in chocolate and rotate it a few times to let excess chocolate run off. Place back on the parchment paper and repeat with remaining granola bars. Use any remaining chocolate to drizzle on top and return granola bars to refrigerator to let chocolate set.
- Store leftover granola bars at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, refrigerator for 2 weeks or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
+ Oats: Quick oats work best because they help with a cohesiveness in the bar. However, if all you have are rolled oats, simple pulse in a food to break the oats down slightly (but not turn into oat flour!)
+ Peanut Butter: This recipe was made with no-stir peanut butter (I find the consistency to be easy to gage. However if you want to use natural, oil on top peanut butter, you might consider using a bit less depending on the consistency of the nut butter.
+ Brown Rice Syrup: You can swap out for honey or maple syrup if desired, but I really think these work best with brown rice syrup.
+ Chocolate Coating: Looking for a vegan sub that is amazing? Try this chocolate coating from My New Roots using your favorite sweetener sub for honey (or just look for vegan dark chocolate).
+ Sub it: Make an almond version instead. Swap out the peanuts for almond slices and almond butter for the peanut butter.