Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Candy Bars

I pinned these No Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars a few weeks ago without actually reading the recipe first.  I was hoping to use gluten free oats and Enjoy Life chocolate chips to make them safe for everyone to enjoy.

Turns out, they call for coconut oil which my touchy stomach doesn't tolerate.  It pretty much rejects anything that's super healthy, I think it hates me.  But, I still wanted to try them for the rest of the family so today I whipped up a batch.

These were ridiculously easy to make, took only about 10 minutes tops.  I made them with gluten free oats, substituted agave nectar for the honey since agave is lower on the GI scale and therefore less affects your blood sugar, added a couple of tablespoons of fiber powder, and I omitted the dried cranberries because we didn't have any. I also halved the recipe since we were low on agave and peanut butter so I made them in a 9" round pan instead of the 9 x 13.

These were a huge hit!  The older two boys and the husband absolutely love them!  Since I used the super expensive gluten free oats, the 3 year old won't even try them of course.  I convinced him to take a tiny nibble off one corner and he wouldn't try any more, saying he doesn't like them.  I'm considering force feeding him as I know he would like them if he gave them half a chance. (kidding, kidding)  I'm hoping that his older brothers utter enjoyment of them may convince him to give them another try.

These are definitely still a treat, but a pretty darn healthy one with the oats, coconut oil, and fiber.  I'm guessing we'll be making these pretty regularly.

*UPDATE:  These did not even last 24 hours.  They're gone.  The 3 year old finally tried one and said "I like these now!" and the 6 year old suggested I make more tomorrow after saying "These are SO delicious!"  The husband called them "dangerous" and I'm pretty sure he's the main reason they're already gone.

Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Balls

So when I said that I couldn't have chocolate in my last post, I lied just a bit.  I can have the Enjoy Life allergen free chocolate chips.  I just don't use them a lot for baking, more to keep on hand for a quick chocolate fix, as they're kind of spendy at around $5 a bag.  Found these amazing little Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Balls on Pinterest and I figured I would splurge for a treat that we all could eat.  I substituted Glutino gluten free pretzels for regular pretzels so this was 3 year old safe too.  Not the cheapest treat between the chocolate chips and the Glutino pretzels but the end result was oh so worth it!

The trickiest part to these was rolling the peanut butter balls.  I did as the recipe says and chilled my fingers with cold water but that would only work for maybe one ball and then I'd have to re-chill.  As someone in the comments suggested, I then tried chilling the "dough" before rolling it.  I took advantage of the weather and just set the pan of them out on our front porch for about 45 minutes.  That helped, but it still was tricky.  I finally figured out that keeping my fingers wet after chilling them under the cold water was the trick to getting the balls to stick easily. (my husband would be giggling like a teenager reading this post.)

Aside from the little, minor problem of rolling the peanut butter balls, this was another easy recipe and these things are DELICIOUS!  So so so good!  The 3 year old LOVES them and I love that I've found another gluten free, safe Christmas treat for everyone to enjoy.  The biggest problem with these will be having them last until Christmas, even if it is only a couple of days away!

Even though he's already had a couple, when the 3 year old just saw me upload this picture he said, "Can I have one of those?"  A hit!  And now the 5 year old is alerting me that the 3 year old is "stealing the chocolates" so that's my cue. : )