Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

Stacey Mebs | Bake.Eat.Repeat.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars are a sweet treat for your workday lunchbox. Better make a double batch so you can share.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Photo

These oatmeal peanut butter bars. Oh my, yum. Seriously, so good. Plus - they're secretly quite healthy. Which means you can eat lots, right? No?

Yeah, okay, there's still peanut butter, and quite a bit of it, in them. And I suppose you shouldn't really consume truckloads of that stuff. It's healthier than a lot of things though, and a little bit is definitely fine. So I'm declaring these oatmeal peanut butter bars healthy.

Because I said so.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Picture

Seriously though, there's no refined sugar and no flour. The entire 8x8 inch pan of bars has only 1/4 cup of honey to sweeten them, and they're sweet enough! Yes, there's some mini M&Ms in there, because I couldn't resist making them into a monster cookie like bar (for the kids - obviously). You could easily reduce the number of M&Ms to 1/4 cup for the whole pan from the 1/2 cup I noted. I did that for one batch and it was chocolatey enough, so it just depends on how much chocolate you want in there. I think they would even be quite tasty without any chocolate in them at all. Which is saying something since we all know how much I enjoy my chocolate!

These oatmeal peanut butter bars even worked quite well with natural peanut butter if you prefer that. I did find they were a bit drier with the natural peanut butter though, so just be very sure not to over bake them if you go that route. We did prefer the regular peanut butter for these (although I wouldn't say no to one with the natural stuff, so there's that!).

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Image

Also, cold out of the refrigerator? Divine. A soft and chewy oatmeal peanut butter bar that can be mixed together in 10 minutes and is much healthier than the monster cookie bar it resembles? Yes, please.

Looking for a peanut butter cookie recipe that’s a little more decadent? Try these no bake peanut butter cookie cups, or these amazing looking monster cookie bars!

Planning a dinner party and need some inspiration?

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Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

    16 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
  • 1 large Egg
  • 1 cup Peanut Butter
  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 cup Miniature M&M's Candies

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Place the rolled oats in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely ground.
  3. Add the egg, peanut butter, honey, baking soda, salt and vanilla and process until well combined and the dough comes together into a ball. Stir in the mini M&M’s.
  4. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 22-24 minutes until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Let cool completely before slicing into bars.

Notes

  • These bars are best made with regular peanut butter. I have tried them with natural peanut butter too, and while still okay, they were quite dry. With regular peanut butter they were moist and chewy which we definitely preferred. Also, if you would like to cut the amount of M&M’s to just 1/4 cup, they were still delicious with this smaller amount.

Recommended

Source: Adapted from Well Plated.
Published:
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Author:
Source:
Adapted from Well Plated.
Cooking Method:
Baking
Category:
Lunchbox
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Related Recipes:
Lunchbox Recipes, Snack Recipes, Family Meals and Snack Recipes, Bar Dessert Recipes, Baking Recipes, Baked Recipes, Peanut Butter Recipes, Oatmeal Recipes, Chocolate Recipes, Candy Recipes, Easy Recipes
Recipe Yields:
16 bars
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Total Time:
Related Post:
Published:
Author: Stacey Mebs
Source: Adapted from Well Plated.
Recipe Yields: 16 bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 37 minutes

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 bar
Servings Per Recipe 16

Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 79
Calories 158

% Daily Value*
15%
Total Fat 10g
13%
  Saturated Fat 3g
3%
Sodium 66mg
5%
Total Carbohydrate 14g
1%
  Dietary Fiber 0g
  Sugars 10g
10%
Protein 5g

* Percent Daily Value are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrition Facts are estimated based on ingredients and data provided by Fat Secret. Please consult a doctor if you have special dietary needs.
Stacey Mebs

About Stacey

Stacey loves to Bake. Eat. Repeat. so much that it inspired the name of her blog. With three young kids at home, she's become an expert at packing lunches. Say hello to our Lunchbox fanatic!

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