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 have made a bunch of your recipes and they are always well-liked by my children. I made these bars today and my son called them “ah-MAZE-ing” and my daughter said “I LOVE Chocolate Covered Katie!” Thanks for the yummy treats. 🙂
I hated science in high school but find I am fascinated with it in college. Like you, nutrition/food thrills me! And I kinda love osmolarity and the concept. Things just make so much sense in this beautiful world.
Er, I’m a sophomore, and I can tell you I HATE A.P. U.S. History. Basically, we’re just reading through the textbook trying to pick up every last detail contained within ~20 pages within 5 days. The language is pretty complicated and I often have to read it several times. I never really relate to history anyways, it just seems very complicated, the science of politics and war, and trade and economy, and government and law. It’s a weird way these all interact. I think I hate that it’s mostly pointless memorization of facts. If I want to know who became president in what year, I’ll consult the internet, or library. I don’t need to take this course to reap half of an award for all the effort I put in. This class is totally screwing me over, stressing me out, and not letting me live my life with the insane loads of homework. At least I’ll get a free semster in college if I pass the impossible course, right? This class makes me hate school, and if it weren’t for the fact that I also take culinary, I would seriously consider dropping out or breaking down.
I guess that people whose Achilles’s Heel is reading and history are better at geometry and sciences. BTW a mole is 6.022 x 10^23 of anything, like how a dozen is 12 of anything. You can have a mole of paper clips, stamps, or chocolate chips. Usually we say a mole of atoms or molecules. Basically a mole of an atom will weigh its atomic mass in grams. So, if the atomic mass of oxygen is 15.999, then a mole of oxygen atoms will weigh 15.999 grams. 6.022 x 10^23 oxygen atoms has a mass of 15.999 grams. I hope this helped.
Yum! I will totally make these!
I actually love chemistry 🙂
A mole is like a dozen. A dozen equals 12, and a mole equals 6.022×10^23
So a mole of eggs is like a dozen eggs, but a lot more! I thought it was impossible until it was explained to me like this! Not that anybody besides chemists needs to know moles 🙂
I just think it’s good to know stuff 😉
Hi,
I tried these bars last night. Mine did not look as smooth as yours, they were a little dry and they fell apart. They were more like granola than a bar. I used 5 tablespoons of maple syrup and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter. What did I do wrong? I would really like to make these work. The flavor was great…..just a bit dry.
Thank you!
Hi Katie,
The PB magic shell, it’s not vegan right? Or do you know where to find a Vegan version?
By the way. OH my oh my…I’ve made them without the magic shell and they are my so very fav treat right now! 😉 Keep up the good work!
you would’ve liked science if you were in my Chemistry class, we made icecream out of liquid nitrogen. I don’t think it was vegan, but it tasted amazing and I’m pretty sure it could’ve been made vegan. Anyway that’s just my science experience.
Hi Katie,
I think you should try and make this cake and put it on you website.
It’s sugar free!!!!!
What you need:
1 egg
2tbs cocoa powder
Tbs water
Dash of vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp stevia or other sweetener
Mix ingredients in a mug and cook for 2 minutes in microwave.
I top is with peanut butter,but with or without the peanut butter it tast like real cake.
Note: if you let it sit in the refrigerator it tast a lot richer! Hope you enjoy:)
I love these bars following your recipe to a T. I’ve made them a bunch of times. Can I just say the pretzels are a must! BUT I was in the mood for some Biscoff…I know not a healthy treat but hear me out…so I used Biscoff in place of the peanut butter in this recipe and in the magic shell recipe and OMG it’s so a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
I followed everything exactly but mine looked nothing like yours! They turned out to be more like granola bars but a bit on the dry side. Don’t know what went wrong.
Here is a link to CCK’s recipe troubleshooting page:
https://lett-trim.today/faq-page/recipe-questions-and-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
made these tonight and I really like them however, for whatever reason, my family has an aversion to coconut…is the magic shell supposed to be coconutty or was I supposed to use “refined” coconut oil instead?? Personally I like the coconut flavor but if I introduce the recipe to the family they may not like that much coconut.
Hi Katie
I just made these and they are yummy! I subbed soya flour / gluten free plain white flour (half of each) for the oat flour. I think they would make a great filling for chocolates. They would also be great with a yoghurt coating. Om nom nom!
Can you use a magic bullet to process the oats? And can you use other flours for it?
Ooooh Im a scientist! LOVE me my Biology and Chemistry! Albeit, chems hard! My sister is a biology GENIUS and could never do chemistry – she hated it so much. Each to their own! I always dreaded Irish….yes that funny language we (used to) speak in Ireland about fifty million years ago! God i was awfully bad at it…i enjoyed sleeping in those classes!!
Quick update – i made your pumpkin pie muffins into cake form and YUM! i cut it in half, flipped one half on top of the other, used the pumpkin pie “filling” as a frosting in between the two layers and frosted the top with some tofu frosting with a pinch of cinnamon and a bit of pumpkin (and xanthan gum to froth it a bit!) Im in LOVE with pumpkin….
Made these as a hiking treat for climbing Mt. St. Helens last week. I got a lot of kudos from the climb team. These are super easy to make and a delicious salty hiking treat. Thanks for sharing!