I wish I had more time to cook all of the fabulous recipes I come across in the food blog world. If I’m not creating my own recipes, I’m either eating out or eating on the run. Recently though, a girlfriend sent me this granola bar recipe and I knew I had to make it immediately. Not only did it feature my newest obsession, buckwheat grouts, but I also knew it was something that Bryan would love for breakfast and snacks.

Have you tried groats yet? Thanks to Kath, I have been putting them on just about every dish. I keep a bowl of toasted groats on the counter to sprinkle on smoothies, oatmeal, and last night- brussels sprouts! I kid you not. The obsession is real.

I’ve also been on quite the granola bar kick lately, making chewy bars, peanut butter chocolate bars, and Samoa bars- each one becoming a favorite. I really do love when BL begs me to remake items.

Mine turned out a bit crumbly, which was fine after we enjoyed the first few bars. I chopped the rest up to enjoy as granola. Hunks of groat bars on top of yogurt and blood orange slices? Divine.

What recipes from other blogs have you made lately?

Have you been enjoying Girl Scout ReDo week?

I sure have enjoyed making and eating them!

The last post in this series takes on BL’s favorite, the Tagalong. Oatmeal and Peanut Butter base with a thick chocolate topping.

Remember, the goal of this week was to take our favorite Girl Scout cookie flavors and make them into something we could actually serve our kids.

I love a hearty granola bar and these definitely fit the bill. If you want more of an even balance between peanut butter and chocolate, spread a little less filling into the pan or use a larger pan.

Either way, you will love them. I’ve been enjoying them for breakfast with a homemade almond milk latte or on-the-go as an afternoon snack.

I hope you have enjoyed our Girl-Scout Re-Do week. Which flavor was your favorite?

What traditional items would you like to see made over next? 

Tagalong Girl Scout Granola Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups oats
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup packed dates
1/2 cup rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup agave syrup (or other sweetener, honey, maple syrup)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp. neutral oil
chocolate shavings, optional topping.
In a food processor, combine the oats, peanut butter, and dates until a chunky crumb forms. Add the rice crispy cereal and agave. Process until the dough is sticky and able to be pinched between your fingers and hold it’s shape.

Press into a lightly greased 8X8. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Combine 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp. neutral oil. Place in the microwave and heat for 1 minute. Remove and stir until creamy.

Pour over the peanut butter bars and spread to all corners. Sprinkle on chopped chocolate.

Place back into fridge to harden, about 30 minutes. Slice into bars.

I have a hard time keeping a straight face when someone tells me they enjoy granola bars as a ‘healthy’ snack.

Healthy, eh?

Let’s look at the ingredient list of Chocolate Chip Chewy Bars

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWNSUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT],WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEATFLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRYMILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOABUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP(WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT), INVERTSUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, SOYBEAN OIL. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL,CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL ANDARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Are we still calling this a healthy snack?

Ditch your packaged bars and make these instead. Not only do you have control over the ingredients, they taste much better than traditional granola bars.

And you save money. And wasteful packaging.

Hopefully you don’t need any more convincing.

Yes, these still contain chocolate chips (I still had to get BL to choose these over regular bars), and they contain a little sugar. Not nearly as much as the packaged kind though. Your choice of liquid sweetener; I used agave but you could experiment with honey or maple syrup.

Mmm. Chewy, chocolate peanut butter granola bars. And around 100 calories per serving as well.

Wham! Bam! These are kicking those quaker bars butts.

These will keep for two weeks in the fridge. Make a pan, slice them and eat as needed. They make a pretty good on-the-go breakfast as well.

DK’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chewy Peanut Bar

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener, see above)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
⅓ cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine rolled oats, flour, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and brown rice crispy cereal in a large bowl. Combine peanut butter and agave nectar in another bowl. Add the peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir together, add the chocolate chips, and pour into a lightly-greased 8X8. Place a piece of parchment paper over the bars. Use a can or heavy object like glass measuring cup and gently beat down the mixture until it is compact and fills the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Cut into 12 bars.