Oatmeal Cookie Bars & A Bachelorette Weekend

This weekend was my roommate's bachelorette trip (Wooo!). Just a few of her closest girlfriends, down at the beach for the whole weekend. We packed plenty of snacks, games, and movies and simply relaxed the entire weekend. We grazed, laid out (well I laid in the shade) and slept all weekend. It was perfect.

The only thing missing from this weekend were these amazing Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars. They would have been perfect for breakfast (with Almond Milk), or as a snack by themselves, or even for dessert with vanilla ice cream on top. And the best part? All of those ways would have been super healthy!!! (Well, so -so on the ice cream, but moderation in all things right??).







Anyway, I made these a few weeks ago based off of the Peanut Butter Granola Bar from a fave blog of mine heedthefeed. I ended up tweaking almost everything in the recipe (as usual) to fit what I have in my pantry and/or my taste buds and somehow ended up with a cookie bar instead of a granola bar. (Hey, who's complaining??).

What's funny -- I actually didn't like them at first. They tasted too banana-y. (Is that a word?). But they grew on me REAL fast. They were so delicious (and nutritious) and I even got the stamp of approval from a few co-workers.

I am dying to make these again and eat them with ice cream. Or maybe even make them into Double Chocolate Oat Bars by adding cocoa powder....!?! and of course still with the ice cream. (duh).

I also want to try them without the extra liquid (see ingredients) to see if I can make them more granola bar-ish as well. If I can make two different (healthy!) snacks/desserts out of one set of ingredients...sign me up!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Adapted from heedthefeed

I have only listed my recipe (as tweaked) but see Jessa's blog for the original recipe.

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I made my own by throwing peanuts, oil and salt in a food processor)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup (honey would work great too)
1/3 cup banana puree (thaw a frozen banana and puree in food processor until liquid)
2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips (or more... I seem to be heavy handed when it comes to chocolate.)
1/2 cup shredded coconut


1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray an 8x8 pan and line with parchment paper (spray that as well).
3. Pour all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
4. Pour mixture into prepared and lined pan and press firmly into the pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Let cool -- they are crumbly.

Serve warm or cold as a healthy breakfast, snack or dessert and enjoy! : )

Anne