Peanut Butter Oat Bars (Gluten-Free)



It's that time of year I feel resentful about being a Celiac - Girl Scout cookie season.  The Do-Si-Dos were one of my favorites: the oatmeal peanut butter sandwich cookies.  Lately, I've been into making bars from scratch.  Why not come up with a more wholesome version of the Do-Si-Dos in a super simple bar form, with less sugar.  This is it.  You can cut the bars into smaller pieces and call them Do-si-do bites.  Just mix a couple of ingredients in one bowl, put in a baking pan, bake, cool, and cut.  The beauty with these is that you can bake them a shorter amount of time for a softer texture, a little longer for a crispier bar.  I developed this recipe to be pretty simple in the flavor profile with only vanilla and salt.  Putting in spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, etc can add complexity if you want that.  This recipe is scaled for a toaster oven, using a half size brownie pan (7"x10").  If using a full sized brownie pan, just double this recipe.  I love toaster oven sized recipes: great for the single person, watching portion sizes, being more energy conserving, and a lot easier scale to work with.

Peanut Butter Oat Bars (or Do-Si-Do Bites)
Ingredients:
  • Rolled Oats (Old-Fashioned), GF, 1 cup (125 grams)
  • Oat flour GF, 1/2 cup, (56 grams)
  • Peanut butter, 1/2 cup (132 grams)
  • Agave (or honey or maple syrup), 1/4 cup (72 grams)
  • Milk (of your choice), 1/4 cup (58 grams)
  • Sugar (or brown sugar), 1/4 cup (53 grams)
  • Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon (5 grams)
  • Salt, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon, to taste
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to325F.
  2. In a medium bowl, scale/measure all the above ingredients.  Mix very well using a heavy-duty spoon.  Turn into a lightly greased pan.  Evenly distribute into pan and smooth the surface.  Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on desired texture.  (25 min for soft, 30 min for crispy)  If making a double batch, cook for 30-35 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  While still warm, cut/score into desired sizes.  Store in an air-tight container to keep fresh.
-Erin Swing
The Sensitive Epicure

This is part of Food Network's Comfort Food Feast. Check out The FN Dish.  This week we're focusing on peanut butter.  On twitter, we're tagging #ComfortFoodFeast.  Here are other amazing peanut butter recipes to try out from our other friends:

  

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