Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Sometimes I need to make a dessert that will feed a lot of people but I do not want to spend hours making it or having to buy a whole bunch of ingredients. These bars are perfect for that. I had almost all the ingredients in my kitchen already and they are very easy to make. The hardest part about them is waiting for them to bake once you start smelling them. They smell so good, and they taste just as good! I made them for another one of my dip and dessert nights, I love making bars for dip and dessert night, they can be made the day ahead and they are easy to cut and pass out.
For this bar, I used chocolate chips, chocolate chunks and mini m and ms. I let the kids pick what to put in them and they decided pretty much everything I had! They turned out very good, I am definitely going to make them again. Another nice thing about them is that the kids could help make them. They enjoyed measuring out the ingredients and mixing them together. All I had to do was check them once in they were in the oven.
Look at the goodness inside these bars, they are packed with flavor and having the three different chocolates really make the difference. You can taste the peanut butter and the oatmeal but you can also taste the delicious chocolates. Each bite is filled with flavor!
When I have guests over, I make these bars and they are gone fast. The kids love them, as well as adults so I can make them for any get together and everyone is happy. You can also put sprinkles or other decorations on them to make them more festive, they are pretty versatile with the toppings. I do different things depending on why I made them. For parties with a theme I sometimes pick just those color of m and ms so they match the decorations! For halloween, black and orange looks nice, for valentines day I do pink and red and for the Fourth of July, red, white and blue are amazing.
These bars fill people up also. Between the peanut butter and oatmeal, you won't have to worry about feeding anyone again soon. You can pick anything for the chocolate goodness, I think next time I might try peanut butter chips, they would be so good! My daughter likes the chocolate chips filled with cherries also so we will probably try that one day too. Maybe when it gets closer to Christmas we will make some with mint chocolate chips, that would add a good flavor also. Pretty much any kind of chocolate or candy you like to bake with would be great.
You can also make a double batch and freeze half, then you could take them out of the freezer when you want a couple. I usually make extra and freeze some for days we want some dessert but do not want to cook it. It works perfect.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C old fashioned oats
1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 C butter, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 TBSP vanilla
1 C milk chocolate chips
1/2 C chocolate chunks
1/2 C mini M and Ms
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl, do not turn mixer on, stir to combine.
Add oats and brown sugar to bowl, stir to combine.
Melt the butter and add to bowl. Turn mixer one to combine. Add peanut butter, combine
Add eggs and vanilla, mix until well combined.
Add chocolate chips chocolate chunks and m and ms, briefly mix, just until evenly distributed.
Put mixture into 9x13 pan, sprayed or greased. Push dough down until even.
Bake for 25 minutes. Toothpick will come out not clean, bars will be gooey.
