Peanut Butter Oat Bars

Photo by Taste of Home

This weekend I was looking through an older Taste of Home magazine and came upon this recipe: Peanut Butter Oat Bars.  My first impulse was to think, "Oh, those are just like Oh Henry Bars" -- a recipe my girls often made to sell during their pre-teen and teen years.  The Oh Henry Bars were delicious, but I haven't made them in years because the oat base usually stuck to the bottom of the pan no matter how much it was greased.  For those who have never tasted them, the Oh Henry Bars had a chewy oat base and then a top layer of peanut butter and chocolate chips melted together.  They didn't taste exactly like the candy bars of the same name, but were very good.

But this recipe, the Peanut Butter Oat Bars, is a little different.  There is peanut butter included in the oat base, an ingredient  I thought might make it less apt to stick to the pan.  And the topping consists of peanut butter along with milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (no semisweet) all melted together.  It sounded really good and I had all the ingredients called for, so I decided to give it a try for Sunday's potluck.

One thing I did, just to be on the safe side, was to line the pan with parchment paper and then spray the paper with baking spray.  It worked well and the bars came out of the pan easily and could be transferred to a cutting board to cut into squares.  I cut them very small (smaller than in the photo)  because they are quite rich.  A few of them did come home from the potluck with us, but Mr. T is enjoying them greatly.  I would definitely make this recipe again as it is a quick, easy wheat-free dessert that serves quite a few people.  But I'll keep on using the parchment paper!