Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal no-bake bars

I'm constantly on the hunt for healthier snacks for the kids and myself. Last week, I made these cookies and they were devoured (aside from a few that were left in the pantry and started molding after a couple of days in there - the beauty of "real" food that doesn't have preservatives in it!)

This week I wanted to try something new and something with a sweeter taste. I searched Pinterest and found a recipe here that I liked but I had to adapt to make larger portions since there would be three of us (maybe four) eating them.


1/2 cup unsweetened Hershey’s chocolate chips
1/2 cup  natural peanut butter (I use Adams natural and the kind I had on hand was chunky which I figured would add more texture to the bars, but almond butter, sunbutter or another nut butter would work)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or rice milk or regular milk would work...I used rice milk since I have a dairy allergy and only had that on hand for myself)
2 cups oats
4 Tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Tbsp Sweetener (I used agave syrup, but you could use honey, Truvia, etc…)
4 Tbsp Dry Ingredients (I used unsalted almonds because that's what I had on hand, but flax seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, nuts, protein powder, etc. would work too. I just ground up the almonds in my food processor to make them into a powdery consistency)

Directions:

1. Melt the first three ingredients together in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring and checking (mine took about a minute and a half total to melt.)

2. Add the oats and the additional ingredients, stir to combine.  (You want this mixture to be somewhat dry.  If it’s not dry enough, add more oats one tablespoon at a time.)

3. Press mixture into bars or balls. I used an 8×8 pan for thin bars, but you could use a smaller pan if you want thicker bars.  Simply pour the “batter” into a pan lined with wax paper.  Spread batter until even and put in refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes, or until bars have set up. Slice into bars. I keep these in the fridge and give them out for lunches or snacks.