Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

After making Peanut Butter Cupcakes I sent the blog post to the big boss at work to prove to him I could indeed cook. He said he couldn’t stand the idea of a cupcake made with peanut butter, but liked the effort.

Later he sent me a recipe he thought I’d like, “Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars“, probably in jest, but I took it as a challenge of course.

So here it is, Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars.

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup puffed rice cereal
• 1 cup crushed salted pretzels
• ¹/₄ cup ground flaxseed
• ¹/₄ cup brown sugar
• ¹/₄ cup whole wheat flour
• ¹/₂ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
• ²/₃ cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¹/₃ cup + 1 tablespoon honey
• ²/₃ cup mini chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. In a large bowl combine oats, flour, puffed cereal, pretzels, brown sugar, peanuts, and flaxseed. Mix up with a large spoon
3. Add peanut butter and mix with a spoon to create a “dough” mixing it in as much as you can for at least 5 minutes. To be honest at this point it was easier to use clean hands to mash it all together.
4. In a small bowl mix melted butter with vanilla extract and add to dough, mixing it through.
5. Add in honey and stir to moisten completely.
6. Fold in chocolate chips.
7. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
8. Press the dough into the pan.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the slice appears golden brown.
10. Removing from oven, allow to cool completely before cutting.
11. Cut into small bars.
12. Try NOT to eat it all at once! Try not to eat it by yourself. Share it around.

Still working on my photos of food, I got a ways to go with styling I know. I completely ripped off (duplicated the style not using her photo) the pretzel shot from the original post by Jessica at her blog “How Sweet It Is” more as a tongue-in-cheek reference than trying to pass it off as my own.

I’ll probably try some more styling photos while on my lunch break today, and will update the post accordingly.

I didn’t have any ground linseed, but as you can see below, as long as you have the raw product and a Thermomix you’ll be right.