Peanut Butter-Molasses Granola Bars

Cutting calories is hard. Really, really, really hard. Our bodies just don't like giving up the weight and, through trial and error, I found the best way to keep from going on a hunger-fueled eating binge is to always keep something in my belly and always carry a snack on me if I'm not hanging around the house. Seriously, the hungrier I get, the more I just want to open the fridge, stick in my head, and shovel everything into my mouth.

Granola bars are a great snack to keep around because they travel well, but those store-bought ones have so many weird things added to them, not to mention the cost (which keeps going up). This past weekend I experimented with making knock-off mocha almond chocolate chip bars based on a certain large "health-food" company's product, but that didn't go so well. They just wouldn't hold together and now I have a giganto bowl of granola hanging around, which isn't a bad thing, but still not convenient for on-the-go snacking. So today I decided to try making a different type of granola bar and see if maybe some peanut butter might glue things together.

Final verdict? It worked and they taste AMAZING! I think I'm going to keep on tinkering and see what other flavors I can come up with using this recipe as a base. I will figure out those darned mocha almond bars one of these days.

Peanut Butter-Molasses Granola Bars
Yields 24 bars at 119 calories a piece

1 cup crispy rice cereal
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup raisins
A healthy dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1. Grease a 9x13 baking pan and line with waxed paper.
2. Stir together the rice cereal, oats, peanuts, raisins, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In a high-sided pot combine the molasses and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter, oil, and flour. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour the sugar mixture over the oat mixture and stir well using a wooden spoon. Make sure all the crumbs get mixed in. Turn out into the baking pan and press it in. I put a layer of waxed paper on top and pressed another pan on top of it to get it evenly distributed.
5. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, remove from pan, and cut into 24 bars.

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