Hey, hey, hey! Happy Friday!! Woohoo the weekend is here!!
How are things going? Big plans for the weekend? They say it’s suppose to be nice out, low 70′s, so I’m crossing my fingers. I would love to go for a hike or something, but I know I shouldn’t do that and do some yard work instead. Between the winter and my dogs, my yard is a mess and so full of weeds. Ugh!!! But at least I can prep my vegetable garden!! I just have to figure out a way to keep my dogs out of it. I have my garden fenced in, but my dog Sampson, tries to pull the vegetables through the fence and once he gets the taste of tomatoes, it’s all over. He tries and tries to get to the plants. What’s even worse is we have sandy soil, so it’s super easy to dig up, meaning my dog digs a hole under the fence and goes under. He is such work!! I’m thinking we should put chicken wire around the fence and bury it in the ground, but some how I don’t think that will work, but it’s worth a shot. Any suggestions? But if you are doing yard work or hiking and you need some energy, I have the perfect snack for you.
These are my Peanut Butter and Honey Oat Bars. My inspiration for this snack is the Nature Valley Honey Oat Bars. I love those snack bars, but I wanted one with peanut butter and I wanted one that was natural, so I took the ingredients that I only wanted in my bar and whipped these together in a matter of minutes!
I made these bars with a few simple ingredients; honey, honey roasted peanuts, peanut butter, coconut oil, cinnamon and vanilla. I heated the honey, coconut oil and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for 50 seconds total. Added my vanilla, cinnamon, oats and peanuts; gave it a good mix and baked it for 25 minutes. How easy is that?
These bars are so peanut buttery and sweet, with just the hint of cinnamon. The honey roasted peanuts that I used are my favorite. they are the same ones I use to make my peanut butter. I buy them at Trader Joe’s. If you like honey roasted peanuts you should pick up a bag at TJ’s. I personally think they are the best nuts around! Yes, I’ll say it, I like TJ’s nuts! lol Wow, two weeks in a row with nut jokes! he he
The bars are not super crunchy bars, but pretty firm, but easy to bite and chew. I originally wanted a hard bar, but after having a bite I realized that the texture was just right. You do get a slight snap when you break it. Plus an added bonus, I made these for my Husbands lunches and he informed me that the dentist told him to stay away from crunchy foods for a while, which makes these bars perfect for him!! It’s a make me feel good snack that I can make for my family.
A natural, gluten-free oat bar filled with chopped nuts, peanut butter and sweetened with honey.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, ground
- 2 cups oats (I used Trader Joe's Gluten Free Oats)
- 1/2 cup chopped honey roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F
- Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper, making sure the parchment paper hangs over the sides.
- In a microwave safe bowl, add honey, coconut oil and peanut butter. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir until mixture gets runny and peanut butter completely melted in. You may have to heat for another 20 seconds or so. Mix in vanilla extract and cinnamon.
- Add oats and peanuts, mix until everything is combined and the mixture is completely coated with honey and peanut butter mixture.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan and press down with a back of a spoon; bake in the oven for 20 -25 minutes until lightly brown.
- Once you take the bars out of the oven, press down with the back of a spoon to insure the oats are pressed firmly together. Let the oat bars cool slightly and carefully take out bars by grabbing onto the parchment paper and cut into 16 slices. Let bars cool completely and harden at room temperature.
- Store bars in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Calories per bar: 157.2, Fat: 8.1, Cholesterol: 0, Sodium: 31, Potassium: 38, Carbs: 18.8, Fiber: 2, Sugar: 10.4, Protein: 3.9
I store these Oat Bars in the refrigerator in a sealed tight container. I am not sure how they will do at room temperature, but honestly I think they would be fine.
Well my Friends, time to get rolling. Time to make lunch!!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Toodles,
Jennifer
P.S. Don’t forget it’s time to move the clocks forward one hour this weekend. Daylight savings time begins at 2:00 am on Sunday morning! Yah more daylight!!!
These bars look like the perfect snack!!
cookingactress recently posted…Pigu
Thank you!! They were perfect for our mid morning snack, to give us that extra push before lunch!
I love making homemade granola bars! I’ll be subbing almond or sunflower butter though……I’m allergic to peanuts!
Amy @ Fun With Family and Fitness recently posted…My daily trips to Hawaii
These would be wonderful with almond or sunflower butter. I was actually thinking of making this with almonds this weekend!!
I’d like to have a few of these stashed in my purse at all times! They look wonderful and I’m sure are WAY better than the commercial brand!
The Café Sucré Farine recently posted…Irish Blackberry Soup w/ Buttermilk Custard & A Giveaway Winner
Thanks Chris! We like them better than store bought, plus they are so easy to make!! Have a great weekend!
These sound fabulous! A perfect little snack!
Little Kitchie recently posted…baked bbq ranch turkey tacos
I make my family granola bars each week for breakfast and snacks. I think we will have to try these next week!
Ashley @ Quasichick recently posted…Ahhhh…. super excited!
Homemade bars are always welcome in my home. I made different kinds few times and am always happy to find a new recipe.
I love peanut butter bars! Thanks for sharing. I love how it uses simple ingredients. =)
Helen recently posted…My Weekend
I love how simple these bars are! Would be a great snack for me to take to work.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. recently posted…Grapefruit Brûlée
Thanks Steph!
These look delicious! I pinned the recipe. Can’t wait to make them!
Melissa recently posted…Menu Planning for March 9, 2013
You have some wonderful recipes, but I will have to rely upon seeing them elsewhere, as the Facebook/Twitter/Google+ etc. thingy that intrudes into the post here is just maddening. In fact, it makes me feel downright unsociable.
Happy cooking, and all the best for your future endeavors!
Hi Terri, I’m sorry for the thing that intrudes. Can you tell me what it is? I can’t see it, but if you can I want to fox it. Thanks for your input and Happy Cooking to you!
Thanks for sharing this bar recipe on Foodie Friends Friday. I’ve never made homemade bars, I’ll have to try it – looks really easy.
Hope to see you again soon,
Joanne
Joanne/Winelady Cooks recently posted…Marble Loaf Cake
These sound delicious Jennifer!!!
Aimee @ ShugarySweets recently posted…Maple Toffee Cookies
These certainly wouldn’t last long around me. YUMMMO! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest!
Thanks for linking back to the Gluten Free Fridays post!
Party starts tomorrow night (thursday) at 7:05 pm eastern time! Hope to see you there!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) recently posted…Pampered Chef #giveaway
Thank you Cindy!!
I’ll see you tomorrow!
I made this today and i cant stop eating it! Thanks for sharing! I could have eaten half of it before i even baked it in the oven
lol, I am so glad you like them!
These look delicious!! I have bought the ingredients and am planning on making them this week. I was just wondering do these have 81 grams of fat per bar?
Thanks,
Wow, that was a big typo, it’s 8.1 grams of fat! I couldn’t imagine 81. lol Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Oh I hope you like the bars! Let me know what you think, if you do make them!!