Oatmeal Peanut Butter Squares

This is another recipe from the wonderful blog How Sweet It Is. Based on my assessment of my most popular blog posts, you love her recipes. Remember Creamy Caprese Pasta and Easy Beer Mac and Cheese? She is responsible for both lovely meals. If you like those, I bet you'll like these. 

These are tasty. They remind me of a granola bar, but better and fresher and softer. The best thing about this recipe? There is no oil and no butter. Perfect for those of you trying to incorporate healthy, yet sweet, dishes into your life. Or is that just me?

I would suggest adding a little more chocolate chips and a little more brown sugar if you'd like a sweeter, more dessert-like dish. These were definitely sweet, but not enough to qualify as a dessert in my mind. So, if you're looking for a good snack bar, this recipe is perfect for you. Oh, and guilt-free. Love it!

As always this is my version of the recipe, but you can find the orginal recipe here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

*1 cup flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup white flour - all whole wheat flour will be too grainy and dry!)
*1 cup old fashioned oats
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*3/4 cups creamy peanut butter
*1 tablespoon vanilla extract
*1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
*1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preparation:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

*In a large bowl, add peanut butter and sugar and mix with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.

*Add in flour, oats, salt and baking soda, mixing on medium speed. The dough will look crumbly and you want the peanut butter mix to be broken up into clumps.

*Add milk with the mixer on low speed, and mix until a dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips.

*Make sure dough is completely combined, and roll it into a ball with your hands. Place it in the middle of an 8×8 baking dish, pressing it to fit.

*Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until set and golden on top. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

Mixture

Hello, yumminess in a ball.

Golden and delicous.

Guilt-free, tasty snack. What more could you want?