No Bake Chocolate Almond Oat Bars Food

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE-ALMOND OAT BARS

Steps:

• Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment, leaving 2 inches of overhang on 2 sides. Melt almond butter, honey, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, stirring until chocolate has melted and ingredients are well combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. Run a knife around edges, then use parchment to remove from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 24 bars, 3 across one side and 8 down other. Bars can be stored in refrigerator up to 3 days.

NO BAKE CHOCOLATE OAT BARS

Steps:

• Grease a 9x9 inch square pan.
• Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Mix in the oats. Cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended. Press half of mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Reserve the other half for topping.
• Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust in the pan, and spread evenly with a knife or the back of a spoon.
• Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently. Cover, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.

NO BAKE GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper or wax paper so that two sides overhang like handles.
• In a small saucepan, heat the peanut butter and honey, whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla. Let cool for several minutes (especially if you are using chocolate chips, which will melt if the mixture is too warm).
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the oats, flaxseed, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt. Roughly chop any mix-ins that are larger than a chickpea (you can also roughly chop them in a food processor), then stir into the oat mixture.
• Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon or very sturdy spatula, stir to combine. The mixture will be very thick and a little tough to stir, but keep working patiently and you will get there. Once combined, the mixture should feel somewhat sticky, but not liquidy and should easily hold together when pressed. If it seems too sticky (this can vary based on your nut butter), add more oats. If it's dry, drizzle in a bit more honey.
• Press the mixture into the pan very firmly so that the bars stick together (to help, use the back of a large measuring cup or just got at it with your fingers). Refrigerate the no bake granola bars for 1 hour, to allow the bars to set.
• Using the paper "handles," lift the bars out of the pan onto a cutting board (if they are sticking to the pan at the edges, use a knife to loosen). Slice into bars of desired size (I do 1 row of 4 and 1 row of 3 for 12 bars total).