I've been so scatterbrained lately! I was lying in bed the other night when I suddenly realized that I completely forgot my friend Chris' birthday which was all the way back in February. Over a month ago! When I realized that I had let his birthday slip by, I felt awful! Even though he's not much of a "It's my birthday! Celebrate me!"-kinda person, I still felt like the world's worst friend. Especially because he always does awesome things for me on my birthday.
So to make it up to him, I put together some healthy energy bars, and took him out for vegan pizza and drinks (more on the pizza in another post). He's vegan and works out a lot, and since he's a guy, he can eat like his stomach is a bottom-less pit and not gain any weight. Basically, his fast metabolism requires plenty of fuel. Chris is a big fan of Clif bars, but since they're not available here and they're rather expensive to get from iHerb, I figured I'd try to make something similar, with a more sticky/gooey texture than the regular crunchy granola bar.
I based the recipe off of this one from Eat Live Run. To replace the honey, I used brown rice syrup, and also only used half the amount. I can't imagine using a whole cup of syrup because even 1/2 a cup resulted in sweet, gooey bars!
Sticky Peanut butter-Chocolate Bars
(adapted from Eat, Live, Run's Yogi Trail Mix Bars)
makes 8 big bars
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips (halved)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Pour all wet ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously until the syrup and peanut butter are runny and everything starts to bubble, for about 2 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix the oats, sunflower seeds, peanuts, cranberries, and half of the chocolate chips together. Pour the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients and gently mix. The chocolate chips will start melting and turn everything chocolatey-brown.
Press mixture into a pan and flatten with slightly wet fingers, or the back of a spoon/spatula. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top and press down again. Chill in fridge for about an hour, or until cool and firm, before cutting into bars.
Here they are, individually wrapped in parchment paper, with corny sticker-messages.
So yea... I'm hoping that these bars are so yummy that Chris forgets that I ever forgot his birthday. Peanut butter and chocolate can lead to a blissful state of temporary amnesia, right? :)
Happy belated birthday, Chris!