Healthy Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Squares
I have always loved Quaker’s granola bars, Nature’s Valley’s honey oat bars and obviously, candy bars. Unfortunately, after eating any of those I would feel guilty and then get hungry again in no time. I wanted to make my own healthy snack to have on hand, one that was as sweet as a candy bar, yet keep me full all morning.
First, I thought: oats.
Then I thought: peanut butter.
Peanut Butter Granola Bars! Sounded pretty good to me 😉
But then I thought: sugar.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Granola Bars! The sound of that made my sugar-obsessed body jump with joy.
I didn’t have any jelly on hand, so I just added a bunch of raisins and dried cranberries. It’s a funny thing, I always used to hate dried fruit but now I’m starting to love them. Raisins taste like mini orbs of concentrated sugar and cranberries taste like those Welch’s fruit gummy snacks I always used to buy. So I added those super sweet (yet healthy) fruits to the mixing bowl so I could omit any other forms of sugar.
And what did I get? Granola squares with outstanding peanut butter flavor and the sweetness level of jelly. A delicious, comforting, portable snack that will remind you of your childhood PB&Js.
Healthy Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Squares
Ingredients
- 3½ cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
- ½ cup Raisins
- ½ cup Dried Cranberries (no sugar added)
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 96g (6 tbs) Natural Peanut Butter
- 1 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 48g (¼ cup) Granulated Erythritol (or dry sweetener of choice)
- 128g (4 scoops) Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
Instructions
- Line an 8x8" brownie pan with parchment paper both ways.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the oats, raisins, cranberries, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together almond milk, peanut butter, and stevia extract. Then, whisk in the erythritol, then the protein powder.
- Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold together. Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and flatten it out.
- Freeze overnight and slice the next day. Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.
Whoa, 19g of protein?? That’s sure something you’ll never see on a Quaker’s bar! Perfect as a healthy breakfast, a lunch box treat, a yummy snack and a guiltless dessert.
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Thank you for this!!! I hate how all other granola bar recipes require cups of honey or sugar or syrup. It’s nice to have a granola bar you know won’t give you a sugar rush in the morning