Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Snack Squares

Say that title three times fast.

So another weekend has come and gone. Another fun weekend of food: a mediocre vegan mezza plate from Blue Olive Cafe–dolmas [rice stuffed grape leaves], baba ghanouj [eggplant dip], and falafel; a Creuben and Buff taco from Cruzroom; steak with shallot, butter and balsamic sauce, blue cheese twice baked potatoes, and oven roasted broccoli with parmesan [no pictures because I kind of overcooked it all and the photos turned out terrible]; two trips to Salt and Straw for ice cream–Ninkasi Oatis Stout with Fudge Swirl and Banana with Spicy Monkey Caramel and Walnuts; half of a death trap Scotch egg and a crumpet sandwich with scrambled eggs, pepper bacon, chevre, and tomato from Helser’s; and a slice of meatball, mushroom, and green pepper pizza from Pizza Oasis. I think that’s it. Maybe. It’s funny that we pretty much ate in all week only to eat out all weekend. I don’t know how that happened.

This mouthful of a snack was also finished off this weekend. It took awhile to get through it. It’s dense and chewy, definitely like brownies. It’s a product of the weird peanut butter I still had from the last batch of chocolate peanut butter brownies. I’m not sad to see the jar go away. I don’t even remember what kind it was other than one of those natural kinds with way too much oil that you have to stir vigorously with every use and it never seems to be the right consistency. I prefer either the super simple stuff freshly ground in the store [someday I’ll make my own] or old school Skippy. The stuff in between is just too weird for me. Thanks to this peanut butter, it tasted nothing like it despite having 3/4 of a cup in there. There’s other goodies like oatmeal, flour, and chocolate chips. I’m seriously out of just about everything in my pantry to do any baking now. Sugar and chocolate cease to exist [but there is a jar of Nutella].

Inspiration: How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup flour [I used all-purpose]
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter [pick something you use regularly for sanity’s sake]
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk [I used soy]
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray an 8×8″ pan.
2. In the bowl of a mixture, beat the peanut butter and brown sugar for 2-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla. Mix.
4. Add the flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Mix throughly, scraping the sides if you have to. It’ll get really dry and crumbly.
5. Kick the mixer down to low and pour in the milk. The dough should come together. If not, add a little bit more milk.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and flatten with your fingers.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes. The stop will be set and the edges golden.
9. Cool completely before cutting and eating.