These bars might be your new favorite snack.
Peanut butter snack bars!
Salty and sweet, these no-bake bars taste even better than peanut butter pretzel Luna Bars. But they confuse me: How can a recipe with absolutely no chocolate taste so good?
It just doesn’t make sense.
You know what else confuses me?
Moles. And protons and neutrons and electrons. But mostly, moles. I sat through an entire year of AP Chemistry and still don’t understand moles. Not in the slightest.
Until I learned to cook, I thought I disliked science. Only recently did I realize the reason for my animosity towards the subject: I just couldn’t figure out how our school science experiments applied to real life. (Even the more exciting experiments, such as growing plants in 7-up or red food dye… how on earth was I ever going to use the information gleaned from that study?)
But it turns out I do like some branches of natural science, such as the science of nutrition, and the science of cooking. (Edible experiments are the best!) My advice to science teachers: Ditch the moles.
Focus on pretzels and peanut butter!
Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
(No-bake!)
Category: Healthy Peanut Butter Recipes.
- 1 cup rice crispies (30g) (either brown or white)
- packed 1/2 cup oat flour (70g) (see instructions for substitution)
- 1/4 tsp salt (my pb also has salt)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons agave (Pure maple syrup will probably work)
- 3 tablespoons pb (or other nut butter) (Or you can switch the proportions of peanut butter to agave.)
- optional: handful of broken-up pretzels (I didn’t measure)
- optional: double batch PB Magic Shell
Combine all dry ingredients. In a separate (large) bowl, combine wet and stir to form a thin paste. (If you store your pb in the fridge, you should warm it a little for easier mixing.) Pour dry into wet (not the other way around), and stir until evenly coated. Line a baking dish or tupperware container with a large piece of wax paper and pour the mixture into the dish. Fold the extra paper over the mixture and squish down as hard as you possibly can! Use a heavy object to really press it down. (The mixture will fill a 7×5, or about 2/3 an 8×8.) Stick the mixture in the fridge or freezer to harden before cutting into bars. Makes 6 bars. (If you can’t find oat flour, you can make your own by blending oats in the food processor. Just be sure to measure after blending.)
For authentic Luna Bars, top with: Peanut Butter Magic Shell.
As stated earlier, you should make a double batch to coat the bars. Spread it on evenly. When the bars cool in the fridge/freezer, the tops will magically harden.
Question of the Day:
Did you have a least favorite subject in school?
Growing up, I dreaded science class, whether it was chemistry or biology or physics. People always told me how lucky I was to get good grades on Spanish and English tests without studying… Little did they know I once studied for an AP Chem test and still got a 25 (my worst-ever test grade). But you know what? I’m more proud of the C I earned in Chem than the As in subjects that came more easily. I worked hard for that C; it could have so easily been an F! Link of the Day:
I decided to make this for my boyfriend and I to have healthy to-go breakfasts this week. I am eagerly awaiting the bars tomorrow because the mixture was absolutely to-die for. Your blog has everything! He’s started asking me every time I make a dessert if it’s from Chocolate-covered Katie – because her stuff is so good!
Aw lol that really makes me so happy!
I just made this using honey instead of agave and i didnt have pretzels. YUM!!!! the batch i made was way too small! i need to forsure double if not triple this next time i make it (tomorrow) 🙂 thanks again for yet another awesome recipe!
I second that YUM!!
This look amazing! PS, the concept of moles is super simple if someone explains it well. It’s just like any other measurement unit. You wouldn’t want to weight a gigantic boulder in ounces, or even pounds, so you probably do it in tons, right? Well moles are the same way. You just use a mole as a way to measure something really small. If I were to tell you that you have 1 dozen cookies, you know you have 12 cookies. If you were to tell a chemist that they have a mole of silver, they know that they have 6.022E23 atoms of silver. It’s a super large number, but it works for us 😉
I made these, put them in the freezer overnight and then took them out and cut them up. Popped them in the fridge for a night. Today the rice krispies are soggy. Should these just be put in the freezer for a tiny bit and then stored on the counter? Thanks!
I actually store mine in the freezer. They stay much longer that way anyway :).
But are the rice krispies supposed to be soggy then?
no
I am guessing it was dumb to use PB2 instead of peanutbutter perhaps. I will try again! Thanks for yout patience and answering all of my stupid questions :p *hugs*
I’ve never had the Luna bars but I couldn’t resist making your version because peanut butter & pretzel? How can ya go wrong?! These did not disappoint in the least! They are soooo yummy!!! I couldn’t wait to let them harden in the fridge before I had a try so I trimmed the edge to make them straight just so I could sneak the taste….wow! Thanks for the recipe! I may have to whip up the magic shell for the next batch…
Wait…do I crush up the rice krispie treats, or what do i do with them?
No need to crush. Just add them in with the other dry ingredients.
So I just mix them in in their bar form?
Not rice crispy treats, rice crispies… like the cereal ;).
We actually baked cookies in chemistry! We were learning about unit conversions, so she gave us a recipe that was in weird units and had us convert it to normal ones and make it! 😉
Hm… I need extra protein in my bars, but I only have chocolate protein powder. Would that work? I don’t want to use extra PB because it is high in (yes, I know healthy) fat.
Okay, I made these yesterday, altering the following:
-I used 1/2c whole wheat flour instead of oat
-5T of light maple syrup instead of agave (I don’t have any other syrup, anyway.)
-I just BTW heated up my peanut butter before mixing to make it easier to mix.
They turned out SO GOOD! I love them. They are really crumbly though, but it is okay. 🙂 The taste outweighs the crumbliness. Maybe I need to pack it down more. For the readers, the texture of the crispies was all good. They weren’t soggy or anything. I think it is just a matter of making the mix pretty dry. Thanks so much for the recipe- I was looking for a Luna bar type recipe that was easy, healthy, and delicious.