PB Chocolate Chip Snack Bars
Peanut butter chocolate chip snack bars are slightly lightened up and whole grain for a delicious snack that tastes like a giant, thick cookie!
Yield: 9 large or 16 small snack bars
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted), or oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat flour)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix together butter, applesauce, egg, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until sugar is dissolved and everything is well mixed. Add peanut butter and mix again.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet mixture and stir to combine but don’t overmix. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Place into prepared 8x8 inch pan and spread the mixture out evenly.
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Butter: I use melted butter, but canola oil can be used in its place if you prefer.
Applesauce: This helps lighten the bars up in terms of fat and calories. You could use extra butter if you'd rather.
Brown sugar: I have and use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar is fine too.
Peanut butter: I use peanut butter here, obviously, but you could substitute almond or cashew butter if you prefer.
Flour: I always bake with white whole wheat flour (it's more nutritious and you can't taste the difference!) but you can substitute regular all-purpose flour if that's what you have. Or you can use a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour.
Chocolate chips: I like a lot of chocolate chips here - a full cup! - but you could reduce to ¾ cup if you want to lighten them up a bit more.
Servings: You can cut these bars into 9 large or 12 or 16 smaller bars, depending on your preference. ou can also double the recipe and make this in a 9x13 pan
Vegan: To make these vegan, use oil instead of butter, an flax egg instead of the egg and choose vegan chocolate chips.
Storage: Leftover snack bars, once cooled, can be stored in a covered container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1small bar | Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 119mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g
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