This week I’ve been cooking out of an old magazine full of prize winners from Allrecipes.com. I was hoping every recipe would be on the Allrecipes.com site, but I had a hard time finding yesterday’s meatloaf (It had “Elvis” in the title) and couldn’t find this recipe either, which was called Sweet & Salty Peanut Bars but might as well have had Elvis’s name in the title as well since the bars are pretty outrageous as far as granola bars go.
Sweet & Salty Peanut Bars Notes
Anway, Elvis needs a break from having recipes named after him, so I kept the old title even though I changed the recipe quite a bit. My version makes one small 8 inch pan of these decadent, sweet, salty, peanut butter bars which are hyper-tasty and an efficient way to use up leftover white chips and the crushed dregs of granola at the bottom of the box. I used Cascadian Farm Oats & Honey flavored, but any type will do. Also, for chopping the peanuts and white chips I used a Pampered Chef Chopper. If you ever get invited to a Pampered Chef party, the chopper is worth buying. That and the spatula scraper. I have had a batter bowl for 7 years and haven't used it once.
Sweet & Salty Peanut Bars
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup peanuts
½ cup white chips
2 tablespoons corn syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup peanut butter
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cups granola
½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.
In a small food chopper (I used the Pampered Chef handy chopper for this – keep that in mind if you get invited to a party) or food processor, chop the peanuts. Add the white chips and chop them too. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in the salt, corn syrup, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Reduce heat to low or if the mixture has become very hot and is boiling, remove from heat. Stir in the granola and oats, followed by the chopped peanut mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 325 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven (bars will appear bubbly and moist) and set on a rack to cool. While the bars are still hot, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let cool for about an hour at room temperature. Lift foil from pan, score into bars (I made 16, but you can do 12 or 9) without separating, then chill until firm. Separate.
Makes 9, 12 or 16
Susan says
I made these yesterday and they are GREAT. I used peanut butter chips (b/c I didn't have white) and we love them. The granola I used was vanilla almond. All good flavors!
Sarah says
those look sooo good!
snooky doodle says
these look yummy 🙂
shelly (cookies and cups) says
These look great! I think the white chips would be great in these, zand like you did add the choco ones at the end. Can't wait to try!
Lora says
wow these look great. sweet and salty..mmmmm
Janelle says
I agree with the chopper. I use it all the time!
Anna says
Katrina and Lisa, I am not sure I would advise taking out the white chips. I know a lot of people don't like white chips, but in this case they kind of melt into the bar and act as a binder. You hardly notice they're there. Chocolate chips are a good addition, but I added them at the end so they wouldn't melt into the bars and make them a muddy brown.
MaryMoh says
I bet these are very addictive. I don;t think it will last long here 😛
Katrina says
I'm with Lisa on the swap. 😉
Daphne says
These look delicious! BTW I use my batter bowl WAY more than my chopper. Love both my large and small bowls.
tia @ buttercreambarbie says
these sound so amazingly yummy!
Lisa Ernst says
Ok, you had me at "these are pretty outrageous as far as granola bars go." Of course, I would swap out the white chips for chocolate chips. Everything else looks perfect.
Sue says
Another blue eyed baker agrees with the above comment by The Blue-Eyed Bakers. You had me at sweet and salty. These look to have some great flavor combos!
The Blue-Eyed Bakers says
You've got us with the name alone...sweet and salty - that's all we need to hear...yum yum yum!