Peanut Pretzel Bars

Now that school is back in session, I’m back to grocery shopping by myself and it feels like such a luxury.  Among all of the many activities that I love doing with my children, grocery shopping is not one of them.  Because shopping with them is bit tricky, I try hard to stay organized with my list and I make the outings as quick as I can.  I celebrated my first grocery shopping trip sans-children by meandering slowly through the aisles while basking in the quietness of it all.  The snack aisle is my weakness, and there were these peanut pretzel bars that caught my eye.  I slipped the box into my cart and managed to wait until I got into the car to break into one.  It was the perfect balance of sweet and salty, and peanut butter along with dark chocolate is always a winning combination.  Within two days I had my own version- a crispy, chewy no-bake bar filled with peanuts, pretzels, oats, and  brown rice crisps.  It’s bound together with peanut butter and brown rice syrup, and finished off with a quick dip in melted dark chocolate.  For the longest time I’d resisted brown rice syrup, not wanting to buy yet another variety of sweetener, and instead sticking with the more common honey or maple syrup.  My curiosity got the best of me and I finally tried brown rice syrup.  And it really does make a better snacking bar.  It lends to a perfect chewy texture, has a much more mild flavor than the more pronounced honey and maple syrup, and is completely worth the extra storage space in the pantry.  Hope you enjoy.  xo

Peanut Pretzel Chocolate Bars

• Yield: 12 bars

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup coarsely broken pretzel pieces
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown rice crisps cereal
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• flaky sea salt for finishing

Instructions

1. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the peanuts, pretzels, oats, brown rice crisps cereal.
3. In a small saucepan, stir together the peanut butter, brown rice syrup, and salt over low heat until mixture is smooth. Pour over the peanut pretzel mixture and gently stir together until evenly coated. Transfer to prepared baking pan and use the back of a spatula to firmly press mixture into the pan. Sprinkle with flaky salt and lightly press to adhere.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
5. While bars are chilling, Set a small glass mixing bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and place the chocolate in the mixing bowl. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the bars into 12 rectangles. Quickly dip the bottoms of each rectangle in the melted chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip off before placing the bars on parchment paper to set. To set the chocolate more quickly, return bars to the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.