Easy Peanut Buttery Goodness Bars

I apologize for my absence.  I’ve been traveling, well moving, across the country.  We are temporarily settled in Salt Lake City until we decide on a final destination.  In the meantime, I’ll be posting recipes that I threw together before I left.  Most of them will be quick and easy because I didn’t have a lot of spare time around my packing, and today’s is no exception.  These bars come together in just a matter of minutes.  Then they just sit in the fridge overnight and in the morning, you have a chewy, sweet, salty, peanut buttery treat.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup honey
• 3 cups oats
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla 

Ok, so I didn’t manage to get the salt or vanilla in the picture.  The truth is, I didn’t initially intend to put them in, but decided along the way that they would make a nice addition. 

Here’s a little trick for you.  If you spray your measuring cup with a bit of oil, it will make the honey come out a little easier. 

Now, add the honey to a mixing bowl. 

See, it almost all came out.  Now you can just put the peanut butter in there without even having to scrape it first. 

For the peanut butter, I used a natural one, which had not yet been refrigerated, so it was of pouring consistency.  If you’re using something more conventional or something that has been refrigerated, just warm it in the microwave for a few seconds to make it nice and soft.  You’ll also notice that I’m using a crunchy variety.  I recommend that because of the texture, but you can certainly use whatever you have on hand.  I imagine this would work well with any other kind of nut butter if you have a peanut allergy in your house. 

To that, add the salt and vanilla. 

Stir until everything is thoroughly combined. 

Now it’s time for the oats.  I used a combination of quick oats and old fashioned rolled oats.  Either of those will work just find on their own, but if you have both, the mix makes a really great texture. 

Stir until the oats are evenly coated in the peanut butter mixture. 

Pour into a parchment lined 8x8 pan.  If, like me, you’ve used all of your energy doing something else (I did mention I was packing, right?) and you can’t be bothered to actually lay the parchment neatly in the pan, don’t worry.  Just plop the mixture into the middle of the parchment. 

Then, as you press the mixture down and spread it into the corners, the parchment paper should work itself out. 

Cover this and place it in the fridge overnight.  After that you’ll want to continue to store it in the fridge so they don’t get too sticky.  I was surprised by the fabulous texture of these bars.  They remind me a lot of a chewy, nougat kind of candy bar.  For being so simple, they are amazingly delicious. 

What is your least favorite part about moving?  I'm pretty sure mine is actually the unpacking, but I haven't gotten to that part yet.

Welcome to May-hem 2014!

Here at Authors Kitchen, we have a bit of a tradition. It isn’t one we engineered for ourselves, rather, we just embrace the chaos that May likes to throw our way.  Well, this year is no exception.  In fact, I am making yet another cross country move.  This will make three big moves in four years, and all of them have been in May.  So welcome to May-hem!  First up, coconut limeade. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ¼ cups fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 liters coconut water 

In a small saucepan, place your sugar and pour over two cups of coconut water. 

Turn it on medium heat, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  No need to bring it to a boil or anything.  As soon as the sugar is dissolved, just turn off the heat and set it aside. 

Now for the limes. When you’re making something like this, it’s very important to juice your own limes.  I seriously love this press juicer for stuff like this, but if you don’t have one, you can use any reamer or just squeeze them by hand. 

When you have 1 ¼ cups, go ahead and pour it into a pitcher. 

Pour in the remaining coconut water.

And last, but not least, add the syrup. 

Then just stir it all together and put it into the fridge to chill. 

Now, I have to be honest, the end result of this recipe didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped.  Coconut water has a bit of a salty flavor, which made for an excellent flavor with the lime.  Unfortunately, it also has a slightly viscous consistency.  If you’re a fan of coconut water and don’t mind the somewhat weird mouth feel, definitely give this a try.  Otherwise, I will soon post a recipe for something similar, not using the coconut water.  Although, it might be safer to save it for June, so I don’t end up with two questionable lime drinks this month. 

Which month of the year seems to throw you curveballs?