Yesterday afternoon I baked. I have a paper due soon, and I procrastinate focus best with a clean house and baking. My house sparkles during finals 
Unfortunately, most of it was a terrible fail.
Roasting pumpkin? A lot of work, and it didn’t taste very good. Maybe a can of pumpkin puree is worth $3.
Natural Bath Melts? Blobby and somehow squeaky.
Luckily, two things did turn out (I really didn’t want to write that paper!)
The first is a chocolate spin on one of my favorite recipes: Great Scott Granola Bars . Can you really go wrong combining chocolate and peanut butter?
No, I don’t think so either.
Even better, these granola bars aren’t loaded with fat or sugar, and they’re bursting with healthy ingredients like flax meal and hemp seed. This is a good for you combination of chocolate and peanut butter 
Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Heat 3/4 C brown rice syrup, 1/4 C natural peanut butter, 1 tsp vanilla + 1 TBSP sugar on the stove (med-low) until it starts to simmer.
Combine 1 C rolled oats, 1 C puffed millet and 1/4 C each flax meal, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds and coconut in a large bowl.
Add 1/4 C dark chocolate chips.
Pour peanut butter mixture over dry ingredients.
Mix all ingredients together.
Pour into a 9×13 pan lined with wax paper.
Press mixture flat (I cover with wax paper and use a rolling pin/measuring cup/glass/whatever’s close to flatten)
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.
Cut into 12 bars (use a pizza cutter!) Each bar is ~200 calories.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
by: EatCleanLiveGreen.com
Ingredients:
- 3/4 C brown rice syrup
- 1/4 C natural peanut butter
- 1 C rolled oats
- 1 C puffed millet
- 1/4 C ground flax meal
- 1/4 C hemp seeds
- 1/4 C sunflower seeds
- 1/4 C unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 C dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Directions:
- Heat the brown rice syrup, peanut butter, vanilla + sugar on the stove (med-low) until it starts to simmer.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl
- Turn off heat and pour peanut butter mixture over remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Pour into a baking dish lined with wax or parchment paper
- Wet your hands and pat down to get the surface totally smooth without sticky hands.
- Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Cut into bars. (Tip: use a pizza cutter!)
Makes 12 bars at ~200 calories each.
Tomorrow: successful recipe #2! You won’t want to miss this one either!
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
those look devine!
jenna
I would say to roast butternut squash instead. American pumpkin, sans sugar, isn’t all that nice. Here in OZ they have a different brand/type and it’s awesome. I’d cook w/ squash.
Ohmigosh these look amazing!!!
That looks sooo good! I just got some brown rice syrup and I have no idea what to do with it!
oh these bars look great! good work even it did mean procrastinating, it was worth it
yum!
I do the same thing when I am stressed! Baking and cleaning. It makes me feel like a 1950s housewife!
Oh these look so good! Hopefully they will beat out my current granola bar recipe because the one I use now does not yield bars that actually stay in bar form
Mmmmm wow those bars look so yummy!
wow-zaaaa! those look super tasty! i looove granola bars & these look like they’d be fantastic.
Hey that looks delicious. I’ll have to give that granola bar recipe a try!
Can you use other sweeteners besids brown rice syrup? As I’m a poor student and can’t really afford that….
Those look so good!! I am ganna have to give it a try!
those look so good! i don’t think I’ve seen puffed millet before
I found puffed millet in with the other ‘health food’ cereals – it’s a bulk pack from Nature’s Path. and super cheap!
Bronwyn, honey might work. I like how bendy brown rice syrup makes the bars though! The cost bothers me too though, but I figure since the other ingredients are cheap, the overall recipe works out to be not too bad.
I do the same thing when I’m procrastinating!!! Too funny
Love these granola bars – they look amazing!
Those look so good! I do the same thing when I’m procrastinating!
omg that looks amazing! I would throw in some craisins or raisins in there too!
I always cook up new food when I am bored LOL
Those look yum, yum, yum. I tend to procrastinate similarly
Those granola bars look phenomenal! I have never cooked a pumpkin. Libby does such a fine job herself.
Thanks for the recipe! I LOVE making my own granola bars at home….much healthier than the ones commercially made. Question though: Is rice syrup good for you per say? I know that corn syrup is not. I’m going to google it now but wondered if you have any opinion/info on it?
ah, i just read up on it…looks like it is a natural sweetener, can come in organic form. thanks again for the recipe!
Thanks for your comment on my blog!! Your blog looks fantastic, and those bars would have beat ANY of the bars that were given away at the ADA expo I was at!
Looks yummy and healthy…Thanks for sharing, Allison
looks awesome to me!
hey girl! sorry to be MIA. you had some really good posts while i was absent. i have never seen the PBAG bar in stores but now i am going to be on the lookout since it got such a thumbs up. also i like that your sponsors are hand in hand with your blog values. props. ive never tried drinking straight wheat grass! hmmm. anyway, those bars look awesome! i loved the play by play photos of you making them. thanks for the recipe! hope you are doing well chica!
OMG!! A woman after my own heart! Chocolate Peanut Butter is the best combo ever! I’m definitely going to give these a try.
Katherine – yep, brown rice syrup is definitely a good for you sweetener! It’s a mixture of simple/complex carbohydrates, so the simple sugar breaks down first giving you some immediate energy, and then the complex sugars take more time to break down, giving you some ‘time-release’ energy
Mama Pea – lol. Libby does do a good job!
I can’t eat oats. Do you think these would work with 2 cups puffed millet or 1 cup each puffed rice and millet?
M, I think it’s worth a try! It would probably be a more crunchy bar, kind of like a rice krispy treat. Let me know how it works!