When I was pregnant, I craved sweets. Not like candy bars, but baked goods. Think cakes, cookies, muffins, things of that nature. The only problem was I was pregnant through the summer, and we didn’t have air conditioning. My husband didn’t appreciate coming home from a hot day at work to sit in a house that I heated up by running the oven for hours. I didn’t really enjoy it much either, but I wanted those baked goodies and I was willing to deal with the heat to get them.
After one particularly hot and long baking session, my sister came over for a visit. When she walked into the house, she turned around and walked right back outside. “What on Earth are you doing in there!” Is all she said. When I told her about my cravings she said, “Haven’t you ever heard of no bake?”
Oh my gosh. Pregnancy brain. I had forgotten all about those kinds of sweets. I instantly took this recipe for peanut butter and chocolate bars off of NeighborFood to make the next time the need for something like that hit me.
Quick Tip: Make them crunchy with crunch peanut butter.
My husband was pretty happy I found these too. Not only did I stop heating up the house to unbearable temperatures, he really enjoyed the flavor. He loves the peanut butter and chocolate combination, and we serve these fresh right out of the refrigerator. It’s a nice cool treat on those hot summer days. I like to take these to potlucks and things like that now too. They are so simple and you only need a few ingredients. I just keep them on hand just in case those old cravings come back… pregnant or not!
Check out what they are saying about this recipe over at NeighborFood:
“If you love chocolate and peanut butter, these are going to be your new best friend.”
To Make this Recipe You’Il Need the following ingredients:
- Butter
- Brown sugar, packed
- Pure vanilla extract
- Rolled oats
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Dark chocolate chips
- Chunky peanut butter
Yum! Delicious, easy, and no need to turn on the oven. Plus, if you want to make a whole bunch of bars ahead of time, you can totally freeze them, too! Just make sure you bring them back to room temperature before enjoying.
No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
Directions
Grease a 9×9 inch square pan.
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Mix in the oats. Cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended. Press half of mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Reserve the other half for topping.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust in the pan, and spread evenly with a knife or the back of a spoon.
Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently. Cover, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.
So when do you think you will enjoy them? Have you ever made anything similar? Are there any changes you’d make to this recipe, or any ways you can think of to make them even better? Tell us if you give these No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars a try, and of course come back to let us know how they turn out for you!
Source: allrecipes.com
