Peanut Butter-Oat Bars

Prep and Cook Time: about 1 hour. Notes: Peanut butter and chocolate top an oatmeal cookie base in this appealing bar cookie. The bars can be chilled for up to 2 days.

Yield: Makes 20 bars

Ingredients

• 1  cup  (1/2 lb.) butter, melted
• 1 1/2  cups  firmly packed brown sugar
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  regular rolled oats
• 2/3  cup  chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
• 2/3  cup  unsweetened shredded dried coconut
• 1 1/3  cups  peanut butter
• 1/2  cup  semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

1. In a bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in flour, oats, peanuts, and coconut until well blended.

2. Press dough evenly into a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan. For chewy bars, bake in a 350° oven until edges are lightly browned, about 20 minutes; for crisp bars, bake until slightly darker brown, about 5 minutes longer. Spread with peanut butter. Let cool about 15 minutes.

3. Seal chocolate chips in a heavy 1-quart zip-lock plastic bag. Heat in a microwave oven at 30% power until chips are soft, about 2 minutes. Squeeze chocolate to one corner of bag, then use scissors to snip a very small hole in the corner. Squeeze chocolate in thin lines over peanut butter. Chill until the chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 bars.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per bar.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

387 (56% from fat)

Protein:

9.1g

Fat:

24g (sat 9.6)

Carbohydrate:

38g

Fiber:

2.7g

Sodium:

184mg

Cholesterol:

25mg