Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Trail Bars

One day, at the health club, I saw a stack of coupons for Adams Natural Peanut Butter and there were little recipe cards attached.  My husband uses Adams, so I grabbed one.  This recipe is one that I've made twice now and I really like it.  These bars are super high in protein, (yes they have fat but it is the good type of fat that we must have).  They are very chewy and satisfying, not crumbly.  I add other things to them (see below the recipe).  Check out Adams website for more cool recipes using their product.  Adams comes in organic now too!

 

I keep them in the fridge in their own individual snack baggie for easy of grabbing.  I don't know yet how they will hold up out of the fridge, or if they are in a warm car...the peanut butter and the chips will get soft, which may not be a bad thing, unless it just sticks to the inside of the baggie like goo.  Let me know.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Trail Bars

Ingredients:

3/4	cup Adams® 100% Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, stirred
1/4	cup honey
6	tablespoons water
1	cup chocolate whey protein powdered drink mix
2	cups granola with raisins
1/2	cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1.	LINE 8 x 8-inch pan with foil, extending foil up sides of pan.
2.	PLACE peanut butter and honey in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave an additional 30 seconds. Stir until mixture is smooth.
3.	WHISK water and powdered drink mix until blended. Add to peanut butter mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in granola and chocolate chips until evenly moistened. Press evenly in prepared pan. Chill 1 hour. Cut into bars.
TIP	To press in pan, coat piece of wax paper with no-stick cooking spray. Place coated side down on bar mixture. Flatten with hands. Remove paper carefully.

Yield: 12 to 18 bars

 

12-18 bars maybe.  I like them larger, so I cut my 8x8 square into 10 bars.

I don't use raisin granola, I buy whatever bulk organic granola is available and then add a few organic raisins.  If I don't have chocolate protein powder on hand, vanilla or plain soy protein powder will work, just add a couple of spoons of organic cocoa powder (I do that even with the chocolate protein powder to boost the choco-factor).  I toss in scant handfulls of raw, organic, whole nuts (cashews, pecans, almonds...whatever), perhaps flax seed, or sunflower seed, some organic coconut flakes...see what you have on hand.  Other bits of dried fruit would be good too.  Make them how you want them.  Those things you add will add nutrition and protein.

That little tip they give you about pressing the mixture down with a piece of plastic wrap is a GOOD one.  This mix is gooey and messy and thick and hard to work with.  Sort of like how fun it is to stir and spread Rice Krispy treats!  What I do is get all of my ingredients in a bowl, then put on a pair of disposable kitchen gloves and just mix it that way...with my hands.  And press it as best as I can into the foil lined pan with my gloved hands.  When I'm done there are some gooey wads on my fingertips that I get to scrape off with my teeth before I throw the gloves away.  It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it, right?  After that I put the plastic wrap on top and smush some more.  Once they've refrigerated, pop the foil out, and just cut them with a large butcher knife right on the foil, peel away from the foil and wrap individually in snack baggies or wrap in wax paper or plastic.

These are yummy!