One night this summer I was wanting a different kind of bar to serve for a group of about 15 coming to my house for pizza (delivered! I did NOT cook!). I was just kind of tired of the normal brownies and such. I think these were a total hit with everyone, and I've made them a time or two since. They are like a cookie but much faster since they are in a pan. They are really chewy and totally customizable to what kind of add-ins you like or have. One person that night asked me, "Sara Beth, is there anything you DIDN'T put in these?" Nope. Not really. And they were very good like that! And these are a really easy recipe for kids to help with! You just better have an extra bag of M&Ms for all the munching! Enjoy!
Monster Bars
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (creamy, or mix half chunky in)
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/3 cups total of M&Ms, chocolate chips/chunks, nuts etc
Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Add peanut butter. Stir in oats until well combined. Stir in choice of chocolate/nut add-ins, totaling about 1 1/3 cups. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F (180C) for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven when browning on top and still looks slightly gooey. Don't dry them out by overcooking.
High Altitude Adjustments: At nearly 10,000ft elevation cut baking soda to 3/4-1tsp. These work GREAT with nearly no adjustment!
Notes: I usually use a mix of M&Ms and chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chips. I have made these using all creamy peanut butter but I also mixed chunky and creamy once and loved the addition of the peanuts it gave. You could also just add your favorite nut as part of the 1 1/3 cups add-ins. The dough could hold a little more add-ins if you wanted--maybe up to 2 cups. I adapted this from here to make a little less dough and change up a few ingredients--I thought they were WAY too thick before. I know most of us don't have access to this stuff but these would also be great with other types of baking chips mixed in--peanut butter, white chocolate, butterscotch, etc..
Monster Bars
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (creamy, or mix half chunky in)
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/3 cups total of M&Ms, chocolate chips/chunks, nuts etc
Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Add peanut butter. Stir in oats until well combined. Stir in choice of chocolate/nut add-ins, totaling about 1 1/3 cups. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F (180C) for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven when browning on top and still looks slightly gooey. Don't dry them out by overcooking.
High Altitude Adjustments: At nearly 10,000ft elevation cut baking soda to 3/4-1tsp. These work GREAT with nearly no adjustment!
Notes: I usually use a mix of M&Ms and chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chips. I have made these using all creamy peanut butter but I also mixed chunky and creamy once and loved the addition of the peanuts it gave. You could also just add your favorite nut as part of the 1 1/3 cups add-ins. The dough could hold a little more add-ins if you wanted--maybe up to 2 cups. I adapted this from here to make a little less dough and change up a few ingredients--I thought they were WAY too thick before. I know most of us don't have access to this stuff but these would also be great with other types of baking chips mixed in--peanut butter, white chocolate, butterscotch, etc..
Awesome! I was needing chocolate peanut butter today, too, but I went with the Snickers PB Cookies on here. We're getting my husband home today after awhile away and they are one of his favorites! :)
ReplyDeleteJust made these today when I was craving something sweet. Just a few notes on what I did different. I used just under a 1/3 cup oil instead of butter. Also, I used just under 1 cup white sugar and then 1/3 cup chinese brown sugar. I added in one bag of m&m's and half of a chopped chocolate bar, and some chopped walnuts. They turned out great!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I like about them is that we could eat a few today, and the rest I could stick into the freezer to serve another time. It was so easy and fast!
Oh great! Glad to know they worked fine with oil, Cheryl! I would have probably done the same ratio with the dark Chinese brown sugar, too. I usually use a lighter brown one from Metro. They also keep really well for several days even without being frozen--better than most cookies which tend to stale fast to me. Though freezing obviously is better for keeping them longer!
ReplyDeleteI am addicted to this recipe; thanks so much for posting it!
ReplyDelete