i whipped this up on a whim.
god. i have looked forward to the day i could say that.
i mean, baking used to be a huge, huge ordeal for me.
i baked from brownie mixes.
BROWNIE MIXES. it was good, but come onnnnn.
who needs brownie mixes when you can have
or… these peanut buttery bars?
i got the recipe from Tina at Carrots ‘N’ Cake.
honestly, she was the first health blogger
i ever started following.
i feel like such a stalker, because i’ve read her blog inside out.
i tried reading from the beginning, but that didn’t quite work out
because her server crashed and most of the earlier pictures disappeared.
but anyway, THIS RECIPE was still there!
i made quite a few changes, though.
take a look for yourself.
modifications in red!
Peanut Buttery Bars
recipe from Tina at Carrots ‘N’ Cake
Makes 12 (6) bars
Ingredients:
- 1.5 (3/4) cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 (1/4) cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup agave nectar (3 tbsp brown sugar)
- 1 egg (white)
- 1/2 (1/4) cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional) (omitted)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350*F degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients until smooth.
- Spread batter in prepared baking pan, and bake for approximately 15-18 minutes until the top of the bars begin to brown.
- Let bars cool completely in pan before cutting.
This is what I wrote on the paper I copied the recipe down on:
- Combine.
- Bake 15-18 minutes.
what can i say?
this is a simple recipe.
just mix up all the ingredients, and BADABING BADABOOM
peanut buttery bars.
but… i was rather stupid,
and didn’t take into account that agave nectar
is a LIQUID, therefore would have played a part
in binding the dry ingredients together.
therefore by omitting it,
i had made crumble.
again.
in hindsight, i probably should have included the entire egg.
or substituted the agave nectar with pancake syrup.
it’s NOT maple syrup. it’s pancake syrup.
it’s pure sugar. i love it. i eat it with cottage cheese.
gross. scratch that. i eat it with pita bread. (yeah, there’re still
a few left. sad, really.)
see all the broken bits?
even as i went to pick one up…
it crumbled in my fingers.
okay. that was a dramatisation. i had to break it
with my other hand and take a picture.
but you get my point, right?
doesn’t matter. the crumbs left in the foil i baked them in
was conveniently eaten.
(ouch. that spoon blinds me.)
with a splash of milk, actually. they were too dry
on their own.
i actually am not a big fan of dry cereal.
i don’t like wet cereal, either.
not a big fan of cereal in general (it never fills me up).
but i think these were great!
especially as a pre-workout snack.
especially precisely 1/3 of the entire batch,
as a pre-workout snack.
note: i chickened out of starting p90x today.
what, do i think i’m über-fit now that i can do level one of 30-day-shred?
not so.
my ass was kicked with level 2 today, people.
i think i still have a long way to go before p90x level.
**
Have you done P90X before? I watched the Pylo X workout. It was rather intense.
They still look like they taste good!
I actually think that Level 2 of The Shred is the hardest!
I’ve heard that it’s the hardest, as well! I personally can’t do the walk out and pushup… I can only do the plank :S (I just did pushups on my knees on level 1 :P)
They WERE good, really really peanut buttery! :)
Wei-Wei
I haven’t done P90X, but I’m intrigued like everyone else! Maybe I should get the 30 day shred and see how I do on that front?
Or maybe I should start strength training first… Yeah, maybe I should definitely do that lol
If you’re fitter than me I think you could do P90X. I think you probably most definitely ARE fitter than me! The 30 Day Shred is good too, though. (hint: I think it’s much easier ;D) I think that the 30 Day Shred is more of a strength workout, so maybe that would help with your strength training. I don’t really know, but if you see the comment below that Jessica left, she’s been doing the P90X and I recommend you ask her ;)
Wei-Wei
you have been quite the baker/cook these days! good work!!
i think the p90x plyo is the HARDEST one so ya…i think anyone can do p90x. it will definitely be hard at first like anything else but it gets easier over time. the thing is you HAVE to stick with it.
Thanks! Yeah, I think that pylo x is INSANE. There’s so much jumping and constant moving that I was stunned for a while when I went through it. Is there any equipment I’ll need, though? I’ve seen that you need the pullup bar and the pushup thingies for some of the other workouts… Would I be able to do them without those?
:P Maybe it’s too soon to ask. I have to finish up the 30 Day Shred first! (Though it’s been 30 days already, but I’ve been stretching it out :D)
Wei-Wei
Those bars look scrumptious!
I’ve heard so much about P90x, but the only ppl that I knew who were doing it were guys, so I just shrugged it off thinking it might not be something that many girls would try. Then I heard some classmates who were trying it out (ie: mostly complaining about their sore abs, etc) haha. So girls CAN do it. Not that I doubted our gender otherwise.
I also heard that they have a specific P90x diet that a lot of ppl follow while going through the training. Are you planning on trying that out too?
Good luck! and happy baking!
<3 send some over to Cali haha
I know that P90X is a really hardcore workout, which might turn some girls off, but I think more girls are getting into hardcore fitness now ;) I’ve heard of the specific diet too, but I don’t think that I would be following that if I did P90X. Maybe I’d follow the macronutrient guidelines (carbs, protein, etc) but I wouldn’t be able to follow the meal plan exactly. I wouldn’t reeeeally want to, anyway… I’m not a fan of protein bars or powders :S
Haha I wish I could! ;)
Wei-Wei
Yeah P90X is super intense we have done all of the P90X workouts, and they leave you breathing heavy, a red flushed face, and sweaty! That’s awesome though that you are going to try it, I totally would reccomend it. And if you read the handbooks there is different ways you can follow the program, depending on your desired body shape. (Lean, classic, etc, some easier than others). -Whit
I’ve seen your reviews on your blog! I think it’s still a long way off, though – I need to finish the 30 Day Shred first! I don’t feel capable of P90X… yet. :P
Wei-Wei
Crumbly = great oatmeal topper! :-) Don’t be distressed over them.
I’ve never done P90X before. I’m not really a big fan of video workouts, ’cause I like to workout at my own pace ;-)
Hahahaha I thought of that too when I was eating my oatmeal this morning! Sadly they were all gone already. Maybe they weren’t so bad? ;)
Everyone has their own style of working out. Maybe I need to find a pace that’s best for me using a video, then do it on my own? ;) I feel like it’s a good way to keep track, because whenever I workout on my own pace I feel like I haven’t done it to my max. :S
Wei-Wei
Heard so much about that p90x thing but don’t really know too about it . . . Those peanut buttery bars look good! It’s just like the topping of a coffee cake (which we all know is the best part anyway!) :)
For some reason the “y” on the end of “peanut buttery” used to bother me, but not anymore ;) I do agree, the best part of any coffee cake is the crumb topping! Do you know the difference between streusel and crumb topping? All I know is that it’s butter and sugar, and it’s taaaaaasty :D
Wei-Wei
I love all things peanut butter. And I love how you admitted to breaking the bar, rather than it crumbling. Makes me kind of instinctively trust you.
Rock on, girl.
I like being honest ;) And yes, peanut butter is love. Until it makes you have horrific stomach pains and nastiness the next day. My stomach does not take fats well. :(
Wei-Wei
Oh, this looks so good despite not adding the agave nectare (what is that anyway? i’m going to have to google that!)… I want to try making these! :D
Agave nectar is a “natural” sweetener derived from the agave plant. It’s sweeter than sugar, and comes in a sort of syrupy form. It’s been touted amongst health foodies as a “healthy sweetener”, which I believe has led to some misconceptions… It’s still practically just sugar, and contrary to popular belief is not calorie-free. However, because it’s sweeter than sugar it’s likely that you’ll be able to get away with less of it, meaning you’ll have less calories for the same flavour.
That’s what I understand from vague descriptions across the blogs I’ve read, anyway – you might still want to google it for sure! :) (Oh, and I guess you could substitute maple syrup or honey for the agave nectar in this recipe. :D)
Wei-Wei
You are so cute!! Those bars don’t look to bar actually. Very granola-y and I can only imagine how good it must taste with milk. I actually love my cereal soggy – uhm… if it’s shredded wheat that is. Lol. Anyway, I reckon that just about anything with PB is awesome so I bet your bars were amazing. You can probably sub agave with honey too!
xoxo
Mm-hm, they actually tasted reeeeeally good with milk. I think the extra moisture was really much-needed. And I agree – scratchy dry shredded wheat is not tasty! I actually quite like shredded what when it soaks up all the milk and becomes yummmmy. :D
I do agree – PB anything is great ;) (I was thinking of substituting the agave with this pancake syrup we just so happen to have at home! I’ve heard that agave is thinner than honey, so… maybe it’ll work?)
Wei-Wei
You’re awesome. Have I ever told you how much I love your food pictures? Like, seriously, mouth-is-watering-even-though-I’m-already-currently-stuffing-my-face love.
I love peanut butter more than I love cake, so I will for sure be giving this recipe a try sometime.
And I’d never heard of P90X or Pylo X until now. Just shows how much I know about working out, eh? My idea of “working out” is ten pushups. Or stretching for ten seconds. (Well, not quite. More like an hour of yoga. But yeah, running + recreational sports + yoga + never going to the gym is my workout routine. Nothing that would escape the category “girly.”)
Thanks! I learned food photography mainly from other sites, but most of the time it’s not that good (there are a lot of old pictures I’ve been doing housekeeping on lately and they are seriously horrific – seriously, too dark, blurry, unfocussed: the works.) I love peanut butter more than I love cake too, and I don’t know if it’s possible to have a “slice of peanut butter” on a menu instead of a slice of cake. Though I might die from richness and fatness, I think my PB craving would be satisfied for the rest of my life.
I really don’t know much about working out either actually. I don’t run at all, I don’t do sports for fun, yoga is really not my thing, and gym? Don’t even think about it.
Wei-Wei