Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

One thing I love about Kenzie is that she is willing to ask me specifically for a recipe to be made for her.  She is willing to find the exact recipe and shop for ingredients if needed.  I love making food for people, but even I have to admit that my taste is not like everyone else's.  Lots of people may not appreciate a gift of quinoa-stuffed delicata squash (yes that's on my menu this week), so I need a little bit of assistance sometimes.

A couple days after Christmas, I had a notification on Facebook that Kenzie had tagged me in something.  When I clicked on it, it was this recipe posted by Quaker, with the note "make please."  How could I say no?  I had all the ingredients and they were simple, and I liked how you an't be quite sure if it's breakfast or dessert.  I mean, there's oats, and peanut butter, but also chocolate chips... I'll let you be the judge of that.  I made them and brought them over to my mom's house, much to Kenzie's happiness.

Now, side note: I should probably remember next time to put them on some sort of disposable dish when I bring food to my mother's, because my pan came back with a black circle burned into them.  The bars had to be kept up on the stove (away from Delilah), and although my mom has had this stove for probably 4 - 5 years, she still has no idea how to turn on the right units, so she turned on the wrong ones, lit these bars on fire, and burned a ring into my pan.  Such is life :)

Recipe:

oatmeal chocolate peanut butter bars
from Quaker Oats

Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix sugar and peanut butter using a mixer on high for 2 - 3 minutes, then add vanilla extract.  Add oats, flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on medium speed until the mixture looks crumbly.  Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

2) Once the mixture is evenly mixed and crumbly, add milk on low until a dough is formed.  Fold in chocolate chips by hand.  Once chocolate chips are evenly distributed, roll the entire mixture into a ball using your hands.  Place the ball of dough into an 8x8 cake pan, pressing the dough to fit evenly into the pan.

3) Bake for 17 - 20 minutes.  Remove once the bars are a golden brown.  Let cool completely before you cut into squares.