What do you do?

What do you do when your boyfriend is cheating?

....

on your baking. 

with these.

 

Each weekend it's the same story.  We're walking down the snack aisle and it happens. Wham, bam, thank-you ma'am, into the cart they go.  He won't break up with them.  I'm becoming a jealous girlfriend. I find myself muttering in the aisles.

I can bake portable, tasty, satisfying snacks too Quaker Oats!

Sure, they look all innocent with their 8 grams of whole grains.  Look, look, no high fructose corn syrup!  But take a closer look and you'll see them for what they really are: Corn syrup, corn syrup solids, soy lecithin, glycerin, and BHT (preservative) to name a few ingredients.

 So I decided enough is enough.  I confronted Quaker Oats.  It wasn't pretty. 

Let's just say QO won't be showing up around these parts anymore.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars 

Satisfying granola bars with an ingredient list you can take home to mom.

adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter  

3 TBSP pure maple syrup

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped almonds

6 tsp flax meal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan, or smaller if you want the bars thicker. 

In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, peanut butter, maple syrup, applesauce, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, chocolate chips, almonds and flax meal. Stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture until evenly coated. Press lightly into the prepared pan. 

I used 1/2 cup whole almonds and chopped them in the processor.

Bake or 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until slightly golden. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. 

All wrapped up and ready to go!