Being a Mom leaves me very little time for Pinterest (follow us HERE) and recipe searching. One of closest girlfriends is a great pinner so the rare moments I do get on there, I actually head straight to her and see what she's recently pinned (check out her boards HERE) and then I just mooch off of her. For this recipe, that's exactly what I did. I saw it via her recent pins and I knew we had to try it. I've made it twice in the last few weeks and it's been a really big hit, especially with Walt. He's suggested that next time I try to add some more oats, so we'll give that a go.
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Squares
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3.5 cups oats
1/4 cip chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
Directions:
Line an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray and set it aside. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, sugars, cocoa powder, milk and heat over medium-high to high heat, stirring to encourage the ingredients to melt and combine.
Once all items have melted and combined, allow the mixture to boil for 90 seconds, stirring continuously. After 90 seconds, turn the heat off and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract (careful when you add the vanilla, it could bubble up a bit on you) and stir until smooth. Then add the oats and stir to coat.
Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading it evenly into the pan. If adding any optional chips to the top of the bars, add them now; pressing them into the mixture lightly with a spatula. Place pan into the freezer and freeze at least 30 minutes, or until bars have set up, before slicing and serving.
Store extra squares on the counter top, refrigerator, or freeze, plastic-wrap them for use in lunches or snacks.
The original recipe (which we modified a bit) was pinned from Averie Cooks, HERE. She has great suggestions for making this recipe vegan and gluten free too. Check out her site, lots of good recipes, mmm!
About to go into the freezer! What I love about this recipe is it literally only takes 10 minutes to make and it contains ingredients that you likely have in your pantry. Win, win!
Seriously scrumptious and a perfect treat for a warm summer afternoon.
