Grace’s Quick Treat Bars aka PB Cookie Dough Bars
A friend of mine shared her recipe with me and I’m sure glad she did! These bars (or squares) are a healthy treat with 4 nutrient dense ingredients in the base, 2 in the top and extra for any toppings you wish to add. They take 5 minutes to put together and then they pop into the fridge for an hour to set. So so good.
Nutrient dense? You bet! There is a lot of goodness packed into these super easy and quick treat bars.
Oats are a nutrient dense, gluten free whole grain, high in fiber and higher amounts of protein than other grains and oats are a rich source of manganese (essential for metabolism, supports bone health and provides immune support), phosphorous (supports healthy cells and boosts energy levels) and vitamin B1 – thiamin (helps the body convert carbohydrates to glucose which creates energy fuel for your body and efficiently metabolizes fats and proteins).
All-natural peanut butter is a good source of protein, and contains essential minerals and vitamins: zinc (immune support & protein synthesis), magnesium (essential support for more than 300 processes in the body including blood sugar management), phosphorous (supports healthy cells and boosts energy levels), potassium (supports kidney function, heart health, nerve function), niacin (supports digestion and nerve function), mono and polyunsaturated fats (similar ratio to Olive Oil, supports heart health) and VitB6 (supports enzyme reaction, immune support and heart health).
Hemp Hearts are rich in essential fatty acids, are a high-quality plant-based protein source, contain VitB complex (supports the cardiovascular and system and cell health, phosphorus (more healthy cell support and boosts energy levels), potassium (supports nerve and muscle function and health, supports heart health, supports blood pressure balance), magnesium (supports nerve and muscle function, supports and calms the mind, aids in restful sleep support, supports blood glucose levels and blood pressure regulating), calcium (supports bone health, supports muscle and nerve function, supports tissue health), iron (essential for growth and development and supports red blood cell health) and zinc (immune system support, supports healthy cell regeneration and aids in protein synthesis and healing damaged tissue).
As always, when you make this recipe, I would love to see your creation so please post a photo of your Grace’s Quick Treat Bars goodness and tag my IG account #RenataCollective or leave a comment with your thoughts!
Prep Time: 5 Minutes / Chill Time: 1 Hour / Makes: 10-12 Bars/Squares
Ingredients
1 Cup Oat Flour (simply whirl oats in your food processor or blender until they have a flour-like consistency)
1 Heaping Tablespoon Hemp Hearts
1/3 Cup All-Natural Peanut Butter – make sure its runny. Alternate: almond butter or Sunbutter
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
½ Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
Extra Toppings: ¼ cup - sliced almonds, chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips, coconut flakes, craisins… or all of these!
How It’s Made
Prep a loaf pan (usually these are 9”x5”) by lining it with parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the oat flour, hemp hearts, peanut butter and maple syrup. If your nut butter isn’t runny, heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds or stove top over low heat to make it runny.
Press this mixture into the parchment lined loaf pan, pushing down on the base to make it even and firm.
In your microwave for about 1 minutes, or on the stove top, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Stir until smooth.
Pour the chocolate over the top of the base, tipping the pan to make sure all the base is covered.
At this point you can leave the bars as they are or you can add toppings to fancy them up. Make sure the toppings you add are touching the melted chocolate so they hold.
Put the pan into your fridge for an hour to let the chocolate harden.
When ready to cut them, remove the squares from the pan by lifting the parchment paper out. Wait 5 minutes to let the chocolate warm up just a bit to avoid cracking the chocolate layer, then cut into bars/squares and serve!
Enjoy!
