There is always a hunt for a healthy dessert recipe. But really, is dessert supposed to be healthy? Isn’t it supposed to be an indulgence that we have occasionally just for the sake of the pure enjoyment of food? Sure, it’s cool to say “Here is my apple, it’s my dessert.” But really, an apple is not dessert. You can say it’s dessert – it can stand in the place of dessert – but it’s no piece of chocolate cake.
I think it’s funny to see all these people trying to cut dessert out of their life because it’s got a terrible reputation. Dessert makes you fat! No, it doesn’t. A whole cake makes you fat. Dessert after breakfast, lunch, and dinner might make you fat. A piece of chocolate cake on Sunday will not make you fat.
The surest way to fail on any diet is to say “I can’t have that chocolate cake.” What will you obsess over for weeks on end? Until you finally end up eating a whole chocolate cake in the closet of your bedroom while your family is asleep. True story.
So, I say, give up the diet! After all, it does start with DIE. Enjoy a dessert once in a while (that doesn’t mean once an hour). Make these super easy Oatmeal PB Bars – eat one with a cup of coffee – and really sit back and enjoy that piece. Savor it. Life is too short to live without dessert.
Oatmeal PB Bars
- ¾ cup sugar (white, brown, sucanat, or honey granules)
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- Cream together sugar, peanut butter, and butter until well combined and creamy.
- Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Stir in oat flour, oats, baking powder, and chocolate chips.
- Spread into greased 9×13 inch pan or dish.
- Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until set around edges.
- Cool completely before cutting.
Yield: 12 bars
NOTES:
-This mixture is hard to spread. I find it easier to slightly wet my hands and press the mixture into the pan. Plus, it’s just a lot more fun – almost like playdoh.
-Any nut butter will work for this recipe. Almond butter is fantastic! Surely I’m not the only one who thinks about Nutty Buddies when saying nut butter…right?
-DO NOT OVERBAKE. I repeat: DO NOT OVERBAKE. Just like brownies, no one will want these if they’re dry as the Sahara. It’s better to under-bake than over-bake. But, if you do accidentally over-bake because the kids are screaming, the dog is puking, and the UPS man is knocking, never fear. It’s very good crumbled and used as “granola.”
So I’m really trying to eat healthier and couldn’t seem to get THM work for me. I loved reading your post on the subject and it was freeing because I felt like a failure! I’m curious though on what type of sugar to use. Is raw sugar ok? I’ve heard so much info about sugars that it confuses me soooo bad!
We use maple syrup, honey, sucanat, and honey granules. 🙂 Honey has so many health benefits.
I give you an “Amen” on that! Quick question though, Oat flour, can it be made by grinding oats up in a food processor?
Yes on the oat flour…simple as processing them through a pretty powerful blender or food processor.
YUM OH YUM! My biggest problem is eating too much because it’s ‘healthy’….love me some desserts and I am wild about the ones you share. Thanks so much.
Hi Stacy, LOVE your website and I TOTALLY agree with you about desserts 😉 My question is about the flour. Have you tried any other flour besides oat flour?? I have whole wheat pastry flour & white wheat flour. Just curious as to if these would work?
Thanks…..Janet
On this recipe, we’ve only used oat flour. If you have oats, you can run them through a blender or food processor and make your own oat flour. One of the easiest flours to make yourself.
These sound great. I’ve been trying and trying to get my kids to eat oatmeal in some form. Any form! I tried the oatmeal breakfast cookies, which my husband and I loved, but the kids didn’t! Maybe these will work. Anything with chocolate chips, right?
Yum! And I agree, sometimes I just eat something because it tastes good.
Do you just make the oat flour by grinding up the oats? or do you buy a specific oat flour?
We’ve bought oat flour, but you can also make your own by processing oats through a pretty powerful blender or food processor.
You’re the best! 🙂
Thanks! I’m planning to make these today.
Mmmm! These sound amazing. We are trying wheat free for a month to see if it helps with my (almost exclusively nursing) 9 months old eczema. When I’m wanting a dessert, I’ll have to make these!