peanut butter-oatmeal morning bars

Quite honestly I didn't know what to call these besides tasty lil fockers!
A little history: these bars come from those gluten free peanut butter cookies I made with that wonderful peanut butter powder.
I had some of that powder (see photo below) left over and wanted to do something different.
Having a craving for healthy morning bars--you know the ones that you can take with on busy mornings, but won't weight you down with heavy carbs later on?
So...these bars are kind of healthy, there is some sugar in there, and butter, but there is no flour.
Most days I don't like to have flour; I'll have grains, but not white flour--it just makes me so sleepy.
I wish I could call these gluten free, but there are oats in there, and how the oats get processed, I'm sure there is some sort of cross contamination.
If you want these gluten free, just take out the oats and take out the butter. I added in the butter just for the addition of the oats.
One bowl baking too! Gotta love that.
Do me a favor?
Invest in a jar of this peanut butter powder.
It's so good when used in baked goods; adds that little something special in the background.
Not to mention how much tastier it makes peanut butter cookies!

Where to find? Most health food stores and Whole Foods Market.

Did I tell you how tasty these are?
They aren't dry or boring. You know how some oatmeal cookies or bars are boring? Yeah, not these.
Just darn tasty!
Addictive too.
Perfect with morning coffee!
I am NEVER making oatmeal cookies without this recipe--this is so good.  OK, I know I said that a lot.

See those edge pieces?
Yeah, save those for yourself--you're welcome!

peanut butter-oatmeal morning bars

print recipe

1 ¼ cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (not too oily)

¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 cup + 2 TB old fashioned oats

½ - ¾ cup of raisins (add or takeaway how much you like)

1 stick of butter (8 ounces), room temp

1 large egg, room temp

1 egg yolk

1 ts baking soda

3  OVERSIZED TB powdered peanut butter

1 ts sea salt

cook notes:

This recipe is almost gluten free since there is no flour. 

But there are oats in there, so….

In a small bowl add the peanut powder, baking soda, oats, and salt and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl beat egg and egg yolk, and beat.

In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter, butter, and sugar until well combined, add in the eggs, mix well..

Add in the dry mixture, and mix. Then add in the raisins.

Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour.

It needs to set up a bit/harden before baking.

Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes dry!

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease up an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Place batter in baking pan, making sure to get it evenly spread all around and in the corners.

Bake for 16-21 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. It cooks up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 20-21 minute mark.

The middle might still be a bit soft, this is ok, it will harden up a bit.

You know they are done when there is no jiggle in the middle.

Cool for a while as this baked dough is still fairly delicate and hard to move. I waited 1 hour, then put them in fridge to set up faster.

I keep them stored in the fridge, at least a couple days, covered well.