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Yup! Just like Nature Valley’s, but better!
Now I know I posted these copycat Nature Valley Oat’s ‘n Honey Bars a few months ago, but those were just the original. I mean we love the original over here, but we equally love the peanut butter.
Really though, did you think we wouldn’t? They’re sweet, crunchy peanut butter bars!
And I mean it is pretty obvious we love us some peanut butter over here.
Wasn’t it just last week that I posted this heavenly, insanely delicious, perfect warm weather treat? Yeah, I am talking about you, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge Brownie Ice Cream! And exactly one week earlier I post this crazy Grilled Banana Bread Peanut Butter S’more Sandwich!
Oh fudge, this is getting embarrassing. Not even four days earlier I posted these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Special K-bars. Yeah, those bars have an entire peanut butter layer!
So I think I need to lay off the peanut butter for a while…..
Unless of course I come up with yet another delicious way to use it. Then I will just HAVE to tell you about it. Cause really I can’t hold in the excitement. It’s pathetic.
Really, sometimes after I take pictures and I feel like the picture turned out just the way I wanted them to, I get SO excited to share the recipe with you guys. Like I think to myself “oh, they are going to LOVE this!”.
Seriously, could I get any weirder?
I actually made these because Asher wanted some more bars to have as snacks. The girl loves her snacks. She has been asking for me to make these for days. I finally gave in……like always.
That girl knows exactly how to work me.
Really she has got me wrapped around her cute little muti-colored painted finger nails, that she keeps reminding me, “Tiegy, they really need to be redone”.
These are really simple.
No, really they are. Five minutes prep, one bowl and 20 minutes in the oven. DONE!
Really you can’t get to the store and back faster than that. Plus, these things are awesome! They taste better than the ones from the shelf. Asher approved. And trust me, she’d tell you if they were bad.
I know from experience.
Crunchy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Oats ‘n Honey Bars
Servings: 12 Bars
Calories Per Serving: 237 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats use gluten free oats for a gluten free version
- 1 cup rice crispies cereal
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons peanut butter divided
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 9x13 inch pyrex dish with parchment paper (do not skip this step).
- Combine the oats, rice crispies, chopped peanuts, salt and baking soda in a medium size mixing bowl. In a glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl mix the honey, 1/2 cup peanut butter and coconut oil. Place in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir to melt the coconut butter then add the vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk to combine and then mix the wet with the dry ingredients. Transfer the oat mixture to the prepared pyrex dish that is lined with parchment paper, and press down hard. I used the back of a measuring cup (spray or oil the bottom so it does not stick and press hard!) and it worked awesome!
- Microwave the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for 30 seconds. Drizzle over the top of the bars.
- Place in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The bars will be golden on top. Remove the bars and let the bars cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes then remove from the pan and then cut while the bars are firm, but still somewhat soft. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic wrap.
Peanut Butter, Crunchy, Oatmeal goodness!
Hi this recipe looks really good and I want to try it. I have no rice crispies. Can I leave it out? Or what can I substitute instead for it?
HI! Use equal amounts oats for the crispies. Thanks!
Just made these the other night! Love the flavor but when I cut them they got very crumbly….so now I just have a bunch of broken pieces. Any advice on how to get them to stay intact?
Hey Aimee! Did you cut them while warm or cold? I have found it best to cut these while still slightly warm! So happy you like these!
Thanks for the quick reply! I will try cutting them sooner next time 🙂
Hope that works for you! Have a great weekend!
So what does the baking soda do for this recipe, especially such a small amount?
HI! The baking soda just makes these a little lighter and less dense.
These were really good. I did not have coconut oil or rice krispies. Instead I used butter and capt. crunch cinnamon rolls. I sprinkled with nutella. Next time I make them I will use less peanut butter and add dried fruit.
Made these bars today with less honey and added a little coconut since I used peanut oil instead of coconut oil. Loved the flavor and not too sweet. Unfortunately when I tried to cut them after 12 minutes, they mostly crumbled. The crumbs are delish though.
Ye, you have got to let them cool, BUT if you are OK with crumbs those are delish too! 🙂
Thanks!
These look amazing! Could I make them chewy by under-baking them?
I am not sure, but possibly. Totally something you can try!! 🙂
All the granola bar recipes I’ve tried have crumbled, so I got smart. I added in 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder with the dry ingredients to make this more chocolatey and used canola oil instead of coconut oil, then when I made it I put the mixture into muffin cups and pressed down as hard as I could with a spoon. Cooked for 10 min and they held up! Ended up with 18 beautiful granola cups! I’m trying to cut back on sugar here so I’m going to try using some applesauce instead of some of the honey. Will update with how that goes. Love this recipe!
Question for you – why do you need baking soda? Have only ever used it in cake and pancake recipes or added to chickpeas to soften and speed cooking. Just curious as to what purpose it serves.
These are soo awesome!! I made them just like the directions the first time and loved them! The second time I added a few mini dark choc chips and some ground flax and they were great too! I also loved how easy they were to make! Thanks for the recipe! Will be sharing with friends &family!
These bars look and taste amazing but I’ve made them twice now and each time they crumble apart. I have been pressing down quite hard prior baking and using plenty of peanut butter to bind the bars but the edges of the pan crumble when I remove the parchment paper before cutting. Do you have any suggestions to keep the bars whole?
Thanks!
Hey Bailey,
so happy you love these, but sorry they are crumbling on you. Do you cut the bars once cool or while they are still warm? If you try cutting them while they are still slightly warm and allowing the to cool completely before storing this might help.
Hi. I tried these bars and they are amazing! But I was wondering, would it work with almond butter? Would it stick as good as with peanut butter? Thanks!
HI! I am not sure, but typically the two can work hand in hand, so I would say yes! Let me know how it goes.
Its was great! I did everything the same except I used almonds and almond butter instead of peanuts and peanut butter. Awesome recipe!!!
So happy you loved these! Thanks!
These look amazing! My daughter was just diagnosed with a peanut allergy (and my husband and I LOVE peanut butter!), so what could I use in place of peanut butter? Thanks for your help! I love your site!
Thanks so much! You can swap almond or any other nut and or seed butter. Also, I have a version of these with out any nut butter. Here is the recipe:
Hope you guys love these!
These are soooooo good. Thank you. 🙂
So happy you love them! Thanks!!
I am so gonna make this. I love peanut butter.
I only have one question, can you put them in the freezer?
They can be stored in the freezer. Hope you love these!!
Ok, well…I can’t say I really enjoyed these. They taste NOTHING like nature valley bars. I only use normal people butter…you know, the ones with just peanuts and salt! That other stuff with sugar and all that other crap is not peanut butter to me. i would have appreciated knowing that Skippy or Jiff is what is required for this recipe. Normal regular peanut butter doesn’t work! The bars fall apart completely and have zero sweetness. Just a very bland bar.
I only buy natural peanut butter as well, so I read through the comments before I made these. After reading your post, I made a couple of changes and they came out great! First, I always toast my oats with butter and canola oil, no matter what recipe I’m making, using Ree Drummond’s method from her recipe for granola bars on The Pioneer Woman blog, this added 2T butter and 1/8c of oil. Ree’s recipe also adds salt to the oats. I also added 1/8c of molasses, and 1/2c of wheat germ. They were just a bit warm still when I cut them and they held up nicely. My biggest critic will be home from school soon, so we’ll find out how good they really are, lol, but I like them.
So happy you liked these and I love the idea of toasting the oats. Sounds awesome!!
Thanks so much! 🙂