Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Granola Bar - total time 1 hour

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I've never been one to skip breakfast, I would never make it to lunch without gnawing my arm off.  So to keep my hunger at bay, I start most mornings with a quick parfait.  I loooove this granola I get from Green Bean delivery.  It is so yummy!  And I have tried a lot of different granolas, definitely all of the ones with chocolate in them.  But this one is definitely the best, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, and a little chocolate.  Perfect way to start the day... top it with some berries and yogurt... even better!

We go through this stuff like crazy, like, a couple bags every week.  It's kind of ridiculous.  But we don't always have time in the morning even for a simple parfait (I easily lose track of time before I have had my coffee... even after sometimes... so mornings can go from a leisurely stroll to a mad dash out the door pretty quickly).  So what's a girl going to eat when she's run so fast out the door that she forgot to brush her hair and her phone is still sitting on the kitchen counter?  Granola bars!  A quick grab and go solution.

You could probably just take premade granola and bake it into bars.  But where is the fun in that?  This way you control everything that goes into the bars and can feel good about what you're eating.  No added sugar and tons of protein and fiber... and so yummy... just like McCabe's granola.

It takes a bit of time from start to finish, but it's mostly hands off time.  I walked my dog while everything was cooling, came back, covered them in chocolate, and then went back out with Snoop to finish our walk.  Probably only spent 15 minutes in the kitchen.  Easy peasy!  

2 cups oats

1 cup peanuts (or cashews)

.5 cup pumpkin seeds

.5 cup sunflower seeds

.75 cup dark chocolate chips

.5 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine granola, nuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds in a medium mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl combine the peanut butter, vanilla, honey, and maple syrup.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

2.  Line a casserole dish with parchment paper, then scoop granola mixture into the dish.  Press granola firmly into the dish until there is no give.  Bake for 20 minutes.

3.  Let granola cool for about 10 minutes and then place it in the fridge to let it set for another 10 minutes.  Gently remove the granola from the pan by lifting it out with the parchment paper.  Cut into even bars, about eight.

4.  Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler, then either dip the bars in the melted chocolate or spoon chocolate over top of the bars.  The chocolate will help hold the bars together.  To set the chocolate quickly, you can put the granola bars back in the fridge for a couple minutes and then wrap each bar up with plastic wrap so they are ready to go when you are!

 

 

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