No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars

I stumbled across this recipe a few months ago and even bought dates (at Sam's Club). But I didn't make it until this weekend. I've been having a lot of cravings for sweets and needed to find something clean to satisfy my sweet tooth. I thought these would be great to snack on while I was home on maternity leave, but never got around to making them. First tip - dates have pits. I kinda remembered this as I started making them, read it somewhere or something. So I used scissors and cut each date open to remove the pit. I must have missed one though, because it was stuck to the food processor blade when I got done. 

The 8x8 produces 16 bars. And each one is around 80 calories depending on the ingredients used. They have the same sweetness a cookie offers without the calories and bad for you ingredients that a cookie contains. The oatmeal also "keeps on giving". They do remind me of those chocolate drop no-bake cookies I made as a kid. 

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER OAT BARS

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp raw honey, or maple syrup
• 10 medjool dates, pitted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line a 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan with wax paper, leaving an inch or so hanging over the edges.
2. In a food processor, add ¾ of the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, dates, and vanilla, pulsing until smooth. Add in the oats and pulse until well-combined. The mixture will be crumbly, but it should hold it's shape when pressed into a ball.
3. Press ¾ of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the crust layer and spread evenly with a rubber spatula or spoon.
5. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate, gently pressing it in.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Once firm, remove from the pan by lifting the wax paper by the edges. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

My notes: 

These were really easy and quick to make. Liam doesn't like them so they are ALL MINE.

Make sure you really press the base down. My base was a little crumbly, until I chilled it overnight. So also - chill it overnight.