No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars With Dried Cranberries Pepitas Food

EASY NO-BAKE GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch square baker with two strips of criss-crossed parchment paper, cut to fit neatly against the base and up the sides. The parchment paper will make it easy for you to slice the bars later.
• Place the oats in a large mixing bowl**. Add the cinnamon and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Now we'll blitz the mix-ins briefly in the food processor or blender (or, you can chop them by hand). Add any large nuts (like almonds or pecans) first and blitz for a few seconds. Then add the rest and run the machine for a few more seconds, until the ingredients are all broken up into pieces smaller than your pinky nail. Pour the mix-ins into the bowl of oats.
• In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, measure out the nut butter. Top with ½ cup honey and the vanilla extract. Stir until well blended. If you must, you can gently warm the liquid mixture on the stovetop or in the microwave, but make sure it's close to room temperature before you pour it into the dry mixture (this is especially important if using chocolate, since it will melt).
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a big spoon to mix them together until the two are evenly combined and no dry oats remain. This takes some arm muscles, but you can do it! If the mixture was easy to mix together, that's a sign that you need to add some more oats-sprinkle in more oats until you can't incorporate any more.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared square baker. Use your spoon to arrange the mixture fairly evenly in the baker, then use the bottom of a flat, round surface (like a short, sturdy drinking glass) to pack the mixture down as firmly and evenly as possible.
• Cover the baker and refrigerate for at least one hour, or preferably overnight. (The oats need time to soak up some of the moisture so they aren't sticky.) When you're ready to slice, lift the bars out of the baker by grabbing both pieces of parchment paper on opposite corners. Use a sharp knife to slice the bars into 4 even columns and 4 even rows.
• Wrap individual bars in plastic wrap or parchment paper (if you store them all together, they will stick to one another). Bars keep well for several days at room temperature, a couple of weeks in the fridge, or several months in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer for best flavor.

NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA BARS WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES & PEPITAS

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. I like to use a long piece with the sides sticking out so I can use them as "handles" to lift out the bars later on.
• In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pepitas, cranberries, and chia seeds.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter and 1/2 cup brown rice syrup.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix well with a wooden spoon. If the ingredients aren't quite sticking together, add a little more brown rice syrup, stirring after each addition, until they do.
• Pour into the baking dish and press flat with your hands. The more firmly you can press, the less likely they are to be crumbly!
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm. Lift from baking dish and cut with a sharp chef's knife. Store, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

5 MINUTE NO BAKE PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl.
• In a separate (microwave safe) bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, then microwave them for about 20 to 30 seconds. This will make it easier to mix and add to the dry ingredients since it's really sticky!
• Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix! Keep mixing until the wet binding ingredients are as well distributed as possible.
• Put the mixture into a shallow pan and flatten it down. Place pan in fridge to let the bars chill/set.
• After about 30 minutes in the fridge (or you can wait until the next day - whatever works), cut them into bars, then wrap them up in foil and store back in the fridge (or in the freezer!) for easy grabbing and go-ing!

NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER BARS

Steps:

• For the filling: Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with some butter.
• Using a stand or electric hand mixer, mix together the butter and chunky peanut butter until smooth. Stir in the sugar a cup at a time.
• Add the vanilla wafers to a food processor and process until they are in crumbs. Then add the crumbs and mini chocolate chips to the peanut butter mixture. Spread it evenly into the buttered pan and set aside.
• For the frosting: Using a double boiler or a microwave, melt the chocolate chips and creamy peanut butter. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then pour over the base. Spread the frosting out evenly and sprinkle over the chopped peanuts. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, then cut into 20 bars.