My cousin Alyse and I had our weekly yoga date tonight, and somehow while talking about all of the stressful aspects of our week that we were attempting to sweat out in 1.5 hours of Bikram yoga, we started reminiscing about college, or rather all of the baking and eating we used to do. Her favorite way to relieve stress used to involve her Kitchen Aide. She would go on crazy baking adventures whether it was during mid-terms, finals, or simply to avoid studying or writing another paper. Sometimes she would just show up with plates full of snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and of course, the famous DREAM BARS.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like her cookies and other random sweet treats, but there is no liking her Dream Bars. I simply love them. Her dream bars aren’t just any old dream bar, they were THE DREAM BAR. Pure bliss. Decadent. Delicous. And ooey-gooey. Sometimes, I didn’t know whether to hug her or slap her for bringing those heavenly snacks to my apartment.
With dream bars on the brain and yoga behind me, I just knew I had to make some of my own. Since she’s never actually given me her recipe, I decided to experiment. The result: rich, delicious, crumbly little squares full of chocolate, peanut butter and Barbara’s Shredded Oats cereal.
Here’s the recipe - you know you want one. :)
- 2 cups crushed Barbara’s Shredded Oats
- 1.5 cups whole Barbara’s Shredded Oats (optional)
- 2 cups raw turbinado sugar
- 2 cups peanut butter
- 2 cups and 2 tbsps non-dairy, non-hydrogenated butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 and generously grease a baking pan. Crush Barbara’s Shredded Oats into small pieces and combine with sugar, peanut butter, and 2 cups butter in a medium sized mixing bowl. Spoon mixture into baking pan. In a medium skillet, melt 2 tbsps of butter with chocolate chips until smooth. Spoon chocolate mixture over top. Place whole Barbara’s Shredded Oats on top for an added crunch (optional). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy.
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I don’t know what Dream Bars are, but now I want to! I’ll get my baker roommate to get on this right away.
Oooo those do look good… Anything with chocolate and PB, you can count me in
Ooh chocolate peanut butter AND shredded oats? Those do sound dreamy! Sounds like Alyse has some stiff competition! I love Barbara’s cereals fo breakfast - now I know I can enjoy them for dessert, too! Thanks, as always, for another yummy idea!
Mmmmm. I’ll get The Suze on it pronto.
I will be trying this recipe out tonight!
Thanks for the shout-out, Jamie! Thinking about dream bars almost makes me miss finals! These sound really delicious - I’m going to have to add these to my repertoire! And you know, you COULD just bring them over to my house . . .
Yum - the kitchen smelled amazing last night! I couldn’t help but try the bars…and trust me, they were gooooood!
Umm yum! I already have baking plans this week for zucchini orange bread but this will be on next weeks menu for sure! Ohh and btw I love that you used turbinado sugar, so good!
Oh my goodness, looks delicious. Your blog always has the best ideas! I’m going to go buy the stuff and try this tonight!
I just drooled on my keyboard. Thanks… :D
um barbara’s shredded oats iS THE BEST CEREAL EVER!
Yummy!!! Brings me back to fun times in college :)