Posts
Update:
This peanut butter bar recipe post has received so much attention in
the last weeks that I've been getting emails galore from many of you
who've taken the time to share your outcome with me.
I just finished reading an email from a lovely reader named Missy saying that she made these as a last minute snack to stash in her husband's lunch box, who works as a driver for Titan because he's often on the road for long periods of time and has been trying to substitute his frequent junk food-snacking with something a bit healthier.
Missy said when he called her for their nightly "good-night call," he was raving about the new snack in his box, saying that he could eat them all day long, "'specially since they don't make me tired" like the greasy chips and fried foods he's accustomed to.
"I'm so thrilled to have finally found a healthier snack that'll hopefully keep him from this road to diabetes. Hubby is leaving out again in the morning and has already asked when I'll be making more of the bars."
It warmed my heart to read such a positive story about something as simple as these peanut butter bars. "This time, I'll have to save myself a couple, and I'm not even a fan of peanut butter!" Missy said in her email to me.
I want to thank all of you (and you, Missy!) for your kind words, for sharing my post and most of all, for sharing your stories with me, like my friend Missy has.
They really make my day.
I will be responding to each email individually, but please be patient as I try to get each of you.
Therefore, I decided to create a "snack" that I could eat throughout the day that's both filling and somewhat healthy.
I'm cheap. I'm easy. And I'm quick.
So I wanted a recipe to match.
I don't like to cook, I don't have much spare time on my hands to cook anything that takes longer than 10-20 minutes. I needed something that ...
1. Required little to no cooking.
2. Could pack quite a filling punch for me and my seemingly bottomless pit gut,
3. Something that required ingredients I already had on hand (what can I say, I was hungry!)
4. Something that wouldn't be too harsh on my health, and optional, but hopefully, something that I could probably make a large batch of and eat on a regular basis, whenever the breakthrough hunger or cravings strike.
I typically crave chocolate and cakes and all things sugary, but desperately want to eat healthy. So, I went in search for the quickest, tastiest, somewhat healthiest recipe I could find that only required a few ingredients, and ingredients I had on hand (which wasn't many!)
I found this very basic recipe: 3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Bars -- found on Spark People, and submitted by user LEXRAP -- and I tweaked the hell out of it until it was just what I needed.
Let me just say, I absolutely adore these peanut butter bars. They are the perfect filling snack to not only curb my hunger and cravings, but keep me from feeling too run down while working. The omegas and protein-filled ingredients I've added make these bars great for some mid-day pep. I can eat them at all hours of the day and night, and find myself excited to eat them every time I make a new batch. And the best part, these are a total success for keeping my bouts of hunger away, day or night.
- 3 Cups of Oats I used instant oats because it's what I had on hand.
- 1/2 Cup of Honey. If you don't have honey on hand (I ran out after making these bars 3 times in one week), then you can substitute with 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
There's your 3 ingredients to make the no-bake peanut butter bars!
Here's my healthy additions or "tweaks" as optionals:
-(Optional) Hemp protein, or hemp fiber or hemp seeds. I've used all. The seeds are delicious, and they give the bars more texture.
-(Optional) Chia or Mila Seeds. I use Mila right now since they're small bits so they don't stick in my teeth as badly as chia, and because that's what I had on hand, but Chia seeds are just as well.
-(Optional) Cereal. Crushed up, or whole. I used old Cheerios (the kind with the 3 different flavors, including wholegrain) that just happened to be sitting around for the last month because I wanted to make a snack that was as filling (and healthy) as possible. The Mila/Chia seeds, hemp and cereal make this a more filling snack than it would've otherwise been without them.
I chose to crush my Cheerios into smaller bits. I just prefer it that way, but you can just toss in the whole bits of cereal if you prefer. I simply place about 1/2 cup of Cheerios in a bag, then use whatever is close by to crush them into smaller bits before tossing them into the mixture and stirring things up.
Melt the peanut butter and honey just until smooth, either in the microwave or stove top. Give the two ingredients a stir, then fold in the oats (and crushed or whole cereal pieces). Mix ingredients together.
Press into prepared pan. Place in refrigerator until set. Cut into squares, or simply roll into little balls.
*Right before you start placing the mixture in a pan, dab a little coconut or olive oil on your palms, and then use your hands to remove the mixture from the bowl and into the pan. This keeps everything from sticking to the bowl, and also seems to give the peanut butter bars more... I don't know, ooe-gooeyness. I roll the mixture in my hands for a second before flattening it out in a pan, and cutting into squares. You can just make peanut butter balls if you like, but I give them a roll between my palms first either ways because helps evenly distribute all the ingredients, and gets the oil in there so that the ingredients aren't too dry and the bars crumbly.
* I also like the peanut butter bars better when I've stored them in the freezer for a while. This is not a requirement. It helps the bars to hold a form better, then they can simply be refrigerated or left out, whichever you prefer.
Honestly, I don't care to measure stuff out when baking. I know, I'm a total rebel. So I typically just toss in whatever seems right, then I taste it and add more if needed. This method of cooking has never failed me. However, if you want a rough estimate of how much of the optional ingredients I used here goes: 1 tablespoon of hemp (either hemp fiber powder, hemp protein powder or hemp seeds.) I cannot taste any of the powders when I add just 1 - 2 tablespoons.
3 Tablespoons of Mila seeds.
Add more or less depending on your tastes, it will not affect the recipe much at all.
Additional notes:
I've made these peanut butter bars several times now, and can't get enough of them! Neither can anyone else, for that matter. My significant other praised them, and I made a small batch (4 bars) for his dad to try and he was happy with them. They're absolutely delicious.
It has allowed me to experiment between a more dry peanut butter bar, and less dry. I prefer them gooey, soft and less dry. It all depends on how much dry ingredients you add per peanut butter/honey. I also find that I prefer the ooey-gooey sweetness and softness the bars have when I use honey over milk and brown sugar. Either way, this has been the perfect fail-proof snack for me.
Some days, like today, I choose to only make a single serving, or just a few single servings for myself and my spouse. I just eyeball it, adding the ingredients by teaspoon until it seems 'right' to me. This has actually worked well for me, and we've loved them each time.
I just finished reading an email from a lovely reader named Missy saying that she made these as a last minute snack to stash in her husband's lunch box, who works as a driver for Titan because he's often on the road for long periods of time and has been trying to substitute his frequent junk food-snacking with something a bit healthier.
Missy said when he called her for their nightly "good-night call," he was raving about the new snack in his box, saying that he could eat them all day long, "'specially since they don't make me tired" like the greasy chips and fried foods he's accustomed to.
"I'm so thrilled to have finally found a healthier snack that'll hopefully keep him from this road to diabetes. Hubby is leaving out again in the morning and has already asked when I'll be making more of the bars."
It warmed my heart to read such a positive story about something as simple as these peanut butter bars. "This time, I'll have to save myself a couple, and I'm not even a fan of peanut butter!" Missy said in her email to me.
I want to thank all of you (and you, Missy!) for your kind words, for sharing my post and most of all, for sharing your stories with me, like my friend Missy has.
They really make my day.
I will be responding to each email individually, but please be patient as I try to get each of you.
Lately, as my exercise routine has enhanced (and hopefully, so has my muscle mass!), it seems my hunger has skyrocketed. I've been finding myself craving a little something long before dinner time, and some days, even after dinner! I haven't been staying as "full" lately as I used to, and am having sugar cravings galore.
Therefore, I decided to create a "snack" that I could eat throughout the day that's both filling and somewhat healthy.
I'm cheap. I'm easy. And I'm quick.
So I wanted a recipe to match.
I don't like to cook, I don't have much spare time on my hands to cook anything that takes longer than 10-20 minutes. I needed something that ...
1. Required little to no cooking.
2. Could pack quite a filling punch for me and my seemingly bottomless pit gut,
3. Something that required ingredients I already had on hand (what can I say, I was hungry!)
4. Something that wouldn't be too harsh on my health, and optional, but hopefully, something that I could probably make a large batch of and eat on a regular basis, whenever the breakthrough hunger or cravings strike.
I typically crave chocolate and cakes and all things sugary, but desperately want to eat healthy. So, I went in search for the quickest, tastiest, somewhat healthiest recipe I could find that only required a few ingredients, and ingredients I had on hand (which wasn't many!)
I found this very basic recipe: 3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Bars -- found on Spark People, and submitted by user LEXRAP -- and I tweaked the hell out of it until it was just what I needed.
Let me just say, I absolutely adore these peanut butter bars. They are the perfect filling snack to not only curb my hunger and cravings, but keep me from feeling too run down while working. The omegas and protein-filled ingredients I've added make these bars great for some mid-day pep. I can eat them at all hours of the day and night, and find myself excited to eat them every time I make a new batch. And the best part, these are a total success for keeping my bouts of hunger away, day or night.
Makes 20 bars
- 1 Cup of Peanut Butter- 3 Cups of Oats I used instant oats because it's what I had on hand.
- 1/2 Cup of Honey. If you don't have honey on hand (I ran out after making these bars 3 times in one week), then you can substitute with 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
There's your 3 ingredients to make the no-bake peanut butter bars!
 | ||||
| What I start off with: Oats + the peanut butter in measuring cup. Small bowl of Multi-Grain Cheerio's in a side-bowl. The Cheerio's will be crushed and later added to the mix (but you don't have to crush them, or even add them for that matter.) |
**All
the ingredients are mixed together, in no specific order. I simply heat
the peanut butter with the honey, or the honey-alternative (brown sugar
+ milk)**
Here's my healthy additions or "tweaks" as optionals:
 | ||||||
| From left: Hemp Pro powder, Cheerio's, Peanut butter+brown sugar, milk (in Check Into Cash cup. LOL), Oats & Mila/Chia seeds |
 | ||
| And again, so you really get the idea. |
 |
| Super Close-Up of Mila + Oats |
 |
| Adding the Hemp powder |
-(Optional) Chia or Mila Seeds. I use Mila right now since they're small bits so they don't stick in my teeth as badly as chia, and because that's what I had on hand, but Chia seeds are just as well.
-(Optional) Cereal. Crushed up, or whole. I used old Cheerios (the kind with the 3 different flavors, including wholegrain) that just happened to be sitting around for the last month because I wanted to make a snack that was as filling (and healthy) as possible. The Mila/Chia seeds, hemp and cereal make this a more filling snack than it would've otherwise been without them. I chose to crush my Cheerios into smaller bits. I just prefer it that way, but you can just toss in the whole bits of cereal if you prefer. I simply place about 1/2 cup of Cheerios in a bag, then use whatever is close by to crush them into smaller bits before tossing them into the mixture and stirring things up.
 |
| Inside the bag -- the freshly crushed Cheerios, which made for the perfect little bitty crunch and added texture! |
Melt the peanut butter and honey just until smooth, either in the microwave or stove top. Give the two ingredients a stir, then fold in the oats (and crushed or whole cereal pieces). Mix ingredients together.
 |
| So golden, chewy and delicious! |
Press into prepared pan. Place in refrigerator until set. Cut into squares, or simply roll into little balls.
*Right before you start placing the mixture in a pan, dab a little coconut or olive oil on your palms, and then use your hands to remove the mixture from the bowl and into the pan. This keeps everything from sticking to the bowl, and also seems to give the peanut butter bars more... I don't know, ooe-gooeyness. I roll the mixture in my hands for a second before flattening it out in a pan, and cutting into squares. You can just make peanut butter balls if you like, but I give them a roll between my palms first either ways because helps evenly distribute all the ingredients, and gets the oil in there so that the ingredients aren't too dry and the bars crumbly.
* I also like the peanut butter bars better when I've stored them in the freezer for a while. This is not a requirement. It helps the bars to hold a form better, then they can simply be refrigerated or left out, whichever you prefer.
Honestly, I don't care to measure stuff out when baking. I know, I'm a total rebel. So I typically just toss in whatever seems right, then I taste it and add more if needed. This method of cooking has never failed me. However, if you want a rough estimate of how much of the optional ingredients I used here goes: 1 tablespoon of hemp (either hemp fiber powder, hemp protein powder or hemp seeds.) I cannot taste any of the powders when I add just 1 - 2 tablespoons.
3 Tablespoons of Mila seeds.
Add more or less depending on your tastes, it will not affect the recipe much at all.
Additional notes:
I've made these peanut butter bars several times now, and can't get enough of them! Neither can anyone else, for that matter. My significant other praised them, and I made a small batch (4 bars) for his dad to try and he was happy with them. They're absolutely delicious.
It has allowed me to experiment between a more dry peanut butter bar, and less dry. I prefer them gooey, soft and less dry. It all depends on how much dry ingredients you add per peanut butter/honey. I also find that I prefer the ooey-gooey sweetness and softness the bars have when I use honey over milk and brown sugar. Either way, this has been the perfect fail-proof snack for me.
Some days, like today, I choose to only make a single serving, or just a few single servings for myself and my spouse. I just eyeball it, adding the ingredients by teaspoon until it seems 'right' to me. This has actually worked well for me, and we've loved them each time.
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