A trip down the grocery store aisle will reveal all sorts of snack bar varieties- granola bars, fruit bars, cereal bars, and more. Although they may seem healthy, most of these are packed with added sugars, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, and other not-so-great stuff. These bars, on the other hand, are full of wholesome, nutrient packed ingredients, whether it’s fiber packed oats or protein loaded peanut butter and greek yogurt. This recipe makes a big pan, so all you have to do is whip up one batch, slice them into bars, and store them for snacks all summer long.
PEANUT BUTTER DARK CHOCOLATE OAT BARS
FOR THE OAT LAYER:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oats {old fashioned or quick}
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup spelt flour (whole wheat will work as well)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 peanut butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE LAYER:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup honey
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
First make the chocolate sauce. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, honey, and cocoa powder.
Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it’s just begun to simmer and boil, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate chips until melted. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9×13″ baking pan. Mix together the brown sugar, oats, all purpose flour, spelt flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a small bowl, microwave the peanut butter until soft, about 45 seconds. Mix with the applesauce and yogurt until combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until fully combined, though still a bit crumbly. Remove about 1/2 to 1 cup of the crumb mixture and move to a separate bowl, and press the remainder of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread the chocolate sauce evenly on top of the oat crust, then sprinkle the remainder of the oat crumbs on top.
Bake for 45 minutes then let cool for 25 minutes before slicing into squares or bars.