Monday, January 16, 2012

{recipe} peanut butter & chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars


Happy Monday friends! 
An especially happy Monday to everyone who has the day off (like me!)

I just watched The Help last night for the 28310031 time and it really had me thinking about how brave of a man Martin Luther King Jr. was. It is a shame that he was never able to see just how much his social justice work helped to form the society we live in today. Just a little side note to honor what he did for our country. :)

This weekend was super relaxing. The roomie and I are literally like an old married couple. We watched movies and cooked dinner and relaxed all weekend. We love to go out - every now and then - but mainly just enjoy hanging out, gossiping, and drinking wine at home. 

On Saturday, we went on a 7 mile hike with four of our sorority sisters. 
We packed lots of snacks, lunch, and a ton of water. 
I am so proud of us for completing this hike! There was a lot of uphill hiking going on.
I am still sore today.... 


After walking over a tree trunk that crossed a little stream.


Don't mind me and my awkward outfit. I kept taking off and putting back on my layers.


A little adventure off of the trail led us to the bank of the Apalachicola River.


This is part of the rock we took a little lunch break at.

There were definitely times during our hike where we were all getting pretty tired.  At points of the hike it seemed like going at a steep incline was never. going. to. end. But we powered through! Next up we are planning on conquering the Torreya Challenge Trail. We'll see how that goes... :)

One thing that kept us going was the little sweets break we took 3.5 miles into the hike. A little taste of our peanut butter & chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars was just what we needed to keep on trucking along through our hike. 

I made the cookie bars the night before while watching Water For Elephants with my roommate and our sorority sister Rachel. They have no oil or egg in them - which totally make them 100% healthy right?!

I'll just keep pretending...


Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Original Recipe found on Yes I Want Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1/2 c packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 c peanut butter
  • 2 T flax + 1/4 c water - stir to combine and let sit for two minutes. (this is your flax egg)
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 c flour
  • 1/2 c oats
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 c chocolate chips

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until fluffy. Beat in the flax egg and vanilla.
  3. Combine the oats, flour, and baking soda in a bowl. Then stir it into the creamed mixture. Spread into a greased 13×9 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before you cut into bars.

PS. Thank you to everyone who has been pinning my recipes. :)

xo, Jen

7 comments:

  1. oh boy, i totally i am making these asap!!

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  2. oh dear I must make these. They look incredible!

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  3. Need to make those bars NOW. I love any recipe that combines chocolate and peanut butter! Divine, divine.

    And your hike sounds like such a fun time! Love the pictures you took!

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  4. This recipe looks delicious! Let's just say though that I am NOT a fan of the new quat all you young ones keep using in pictures. Call me old fashioned, but I like the old way much better :)

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  5. Hi there! I just found your blog and I'm making these right now, but in the cookie form with a couple of modifications :)
    I took the first batch out, had a cookie, and they were wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  6. OH GOSH! That looks amazing! I want one ...can't wait to try it

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  7. Delicious! But don't forget baked goods always need some salt in them.

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