Healthier Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

 

You were in 6th grade once, you remember LUNCH LADY PEANUT BUTTER BARS. Unless of course, this is another “Utah thing”…are lunch lady bars a Utah thing? If they are, the rest of you are 100% missing out on this little slice of heaven.

Lunch lady bars are at the end of the cafeteria line and they’ll cost you an extra 50 cents—they’re not an everyday treat, they’re a special treat. I always sought out the middle piece, which is the correct way to do it. In fact, in a recent Instagram post, I proposed the question: Do you prefer the middle piece or the end piece? It’s surprising how many people actually go for the end pieces! Seriously? The slightly smushy, maybe even undercooked middle is my happy place.

Offer: If anyone wants to trade end pieces for middle pieces, let’s make these peanut bars together and swap, yeah??

Better Ingredients, Better Peanut Butter Bars

Healthy Peanut Butter Bars 1
Healthy Peanut Butter Bars 2

A treat is a treat: These bars still have a decent amount of sugar so I wouldn’t consider them an everyday snack by any means. But when you’re riding out a peanut butter craving (like I was for two weeks straight), the best thing to do is give right in.Healthier ingredients in these bars include rolled oats, coconut oil, almond flour, creamy peanut butter, coconut sugar, and dark chocolate.

Healthy Peanut Butter Bars 3
Healthy Peanut Butter Bars 4

I’m not gonna lie, we had humble intentions of eating one peanut butter bar per day, but ended up eating half the pan in a single day. It’s a balance, ‘tis the season. Enjoy these, guys!

 

Healthier Lunch Lady

peanut butter

Bars

Makes: 8 to 10 bars

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup rolled oats

  • 1 cup almond flour

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar

  • 3 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)

  • 1 egg

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • Pinch of salt

Chocolate ganache:

  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

  • 2 tsp coconut oil


INSTRUCTIONS

Healthy Peanut Butter Bars 5

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. In a bowl, mix together wet ingredients (peanut butter, honey, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla extract). Stir coconut sugar into the wet ingredients.

  3. Add in almond flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.

  4. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper, then grease with cooking spray or coconut oil.

  5. Spread dough evenly into the pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The top should start to brown. Once cooked, let the bars cool for about 10 minutes.

    To make chocolate ganache:

  6. Microwave chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a bowl in 20-second increments. Stir after 20 seconds, repeat until melted.

  7. Spread chocolate ganache over cooled peanut butter bars. You may need to pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes or so to harden the chocolate.

  8. Enjoy half the pan (like I did) or store in a container with a lid for up to 3 days in your fridge.

 
All Meal Prep, Plant Based, Snacks, TreatsApril Tafoya