No Bake PB/Chocolate Bars

You know those famous little no bake cookies?? These kind of taste like those...only deconstructed. I found these over at Buns in my Oven, and no it's not that kind of bun! There are tons of great looking recipes on her site, so go and check her out if you haven't already. The one thing that caught my eye with these is the small amount of sugar that you add to the mix.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and oats. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Press half of mixture in to the bottom of a buttered 8 x 8 dish.

2. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the crust, reserving a couple of spoonfuls to drizzle over the top.

3. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate and peanut butter, pressing gently to form a crust. Drizzle the remaining chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars.

4. Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

Chewy PB Chocolate covered Raisin Granola Bars

Last week Megan shared this recipe that she found from Passionate About Baking. Now, I don't know how I had never seen her before, but I am so happy that Megan pointed me in that direction! With trying to be healthier and sounding like these were delish, we set out to make them. You can substitute any flavors that you like, so I just went with what I had on hand, so I wouldn't have to make an extra trip to the store. I chose peanut butter, chocolate covered raisin. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but they turned out pretty tasty. The hubby liked them and the kids gobbled them up.

Thick and Chewy Granola Bars

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor or blender)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts
1/3 cup peanut butter6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 7″ x 11″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter, syrup or honey, and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on them. They’ll still seem soft and almost under baked in the center when you take them out but do not worry, they’ll set completely once they cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way.)

Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

As I am on the mission of eating healthier, making healthier meals for my family, I am learning some things as I go along. First, I think that you have to change your mind set before you try something. Normally, I would have my mind set for the sweetest, richest taste when I would eat something sweet. Not the case when you are trying to make things healthier. Not that it is bad, because these bars are actually very tasty, it is just different. Secondly, the textures are different. I have been using whole wheat pasta for my meals, and it although it tastes fine, the hubby doesn't like the texture. Again, I think that you have to just set your mind that it will be different.

Megan posted about these bars last week and they were on the line of healthiness that I wanted, but also was a tried and true recipe that had a great review. Loving to bake, I need to be able to still be in my kitchen baking up treat for my family, but need to incorporate the health factor. These were just the treat! Although, I did sub a few of the ingredients to help keep the blood sugar down...they were just as tasty!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
Adapted from Megan's Cookin

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons skim milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, honey, brown sugar, egg whites, milk, vanilla and salt.

Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.

In a separate bowl, combine old-fashioned oats, flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Add to liquid mixture. Transfer to a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool until firm. Cut into squares and store tightly covered.

Oatmeal and Apple Muffins

Maybe I have said before, I really can't remember, I am diabetic. Type 2. My blood sugars tend to run higher than they should. So when my friend Beth announced that she too was a "denyabetic" and that new changes were going to be made, that motivated me to make changes as well. I have 2 sons. My oldest one, Shane, is tall and skinny as a pencil. With his shirt off, you can count his ribs. My second son, Blake, is a little shorter and chunkier. He is my total foodie kid. Will eat anything, or at least try it. He told me last week that he was embarrassed by his body image and wanted to slim down. This is the other reason to get me thinking of a more healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. I worry about eating disorders, and know that it doesn't just choose females.

In between doing our daily "check ins" with each other, Beth sent me this link for these muffins. They use very little sugar..1/4 cup for 12 muffins! And I think that next time I will sub in honey instead of the sugar. This recipe only uses 1 cup of flour..next, maybe wheat flour. But the one thing that I liked about this recipe is that she gave us add in combo's and the amounts to use. I chose to chop up a granny smith apple and throw it in. These muffins are really, really good. They have been good for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Basic Recipe
Adapted from: Simple Bites

Be sure to read the recipe all the way through before getting started. You will note that the oats soak in the milk 1 hour prior to assembling the rest of the ingredients, so take that into consideration before starting out.
Makes 12 medium muffins

1 cup milk*
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 large egg, at room temperature
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, freshly ground
add-ins of your choosing (see above suggestions)

Combine milk, vinegar and oats in a large bowl and let stand one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a twelve-cup muffin tin and line with cupcake papers.
Crack the egg into the oat and milk mixture; add brown sugar and mix to combine. Stir in melted butter.

Sift remaining ingredients into the bowl: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, & spices. Gently fold into batter, taking care not to over mix.

Sprinkle add-in and flavorings of your choice and combine muffin batter gently.

Use a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop batter into muffin tins. Bake until light brown and tops spring back when gently touched, about 10-12 minutes. Note: Muffins will take slightly longer to bake if you are adding fresh fruit such as blueberries or rhubarb.
Remove from oven and cool in tins. To remove, run a sharp knife around the edges and pop muffins out. Enjoy!

*You may also substitute 1 cup buttermilk, and then omit the vinegar from the recipe.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Flavor Combinations
1 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen & ½ cup Dark Chocolate, chunks or chips
¾ cup Diced Apple (Granny Smith or Russet) and ½ cup toasted Walnuts, roughly chopped
¾ cup Dried Cranberries & ½ cup toasted Pecans, roughly chopped
¾ cup White Chocolate, chopped or chips & 1 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup toasted unsweetened Coconut & ¾ cup Peanut-Butter Chips
1 cup diced Rhubarb, fresh or frozen & ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom, freshly ground
¾ cup Dates, pitted and chopped & ½ cup Pistachios
¾ cup Golden Raisins & ¾ cup grated Carrot

Feeling like a kid again...

Do you remember these? I remember going through the school lunch line and getting these. That was way before they changed the whole lunch menu. That is a whole other conversation..

I loved them! I called them cow pies. Kind of gross, but that is what we called them. I have also heard them called quickie candy or no bake cookies. No matter what you call them, they still taste the same, and make me a happy little girl. Oddly though, my daughter Abby, doesn't like them. Crazy girl!!

These mix up in no time at all, and just put spoonfuls on waxed paper to cool and there you have some cow pies!!

Cow Pies, Quickie candy, No Bake cookies....whatever you call them!

2 cups sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup oats
1 cup peanut butter

Mix the first 4 ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add rest of the ingredients. Mix well and drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Let cool completely.