Oh, monster bars. I could eat you forever and ever and be happy about it. They combine some of my favorite things – chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal – and turn them into a delicious treat that is totally drool worthy. They are always a crowd pleaser and are almost healthy enough to eat for breakfast. HA!
I found this recipe on Pinterest years ago, and it has become one of my go-to recipes. A few things about this particular one appealed to me. First of all, it didn’t use any flour, which happens to be great for my nieces. They have celiac disease, so they need to avoid all gluten. These treats could easily be made gluten free by subbing in gluten free oats. Besides the oats, there were no more substitutions I had to make, so I knew that these would be delicious to those who were gluten free and those who weren’t.
Second, this particular recipe makes a BIG batch. A baking pan sized batch! This is perfect to taking to large groups or if you are baking in large quantities for a bake sale. This isn’t so great, however, if you have a big sweet tooth like I do! HA! It makes a lot, so I often tried to freeze some to help curb me from eating them so frequently. Turns out, cookies are super delicious from the freezer, so that didn’t help my problem much.
And finally, this recipe is so simple to make. It just required one bowl, no mixer, and no fancy baking equipment. You don’t have to chill the dough, and you don’t even have to scoop it onto a baking sheet. You just pour it into a baking pan, press it in, and throw it in the oven. This also makes it perfect for making it for a crowd or making it in a pinch! Seriously, you could have homemade bars in about a half hour!
Since it is such a favorite, I didn’t have the heart to attempt to make it more “macro-friendly.” The beauty of macros is you can fit whatever food you’d like, and you better believe I make room in my day for Monster Bars! I did, however, convert the measurements into grams, which makes it easier to make using a food scale and track accurately. I also converted this recipe to make a more manageable sized batch (an 8X8 pan), so that way you aren’t stuck with tons of leftovers staring you down. You’ll also see in the recipe notes that I have a favorite substitution that I use to make recipes egg free, if you desire. Macros for 1/9th of the pan or 59 g (which is actually a pretty large bar) is 266 calories, 13F/34C/6P, which you’ll agree is completely worth it after you try them!
Monster Bars
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 50 g brown sugar
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 125 g peanut butter
- 17 g butter
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 4.5 oz old fashioned oats
- 50 g chocolate chips (I used mini)
- 50 g M & Ms
Instructions
- Follow Instructions found at the link below. They are the same for this recipe, except for the size of the pan and the baking time. Spray an 8X8 pan with cooking spray and bake the batter at 350 degrees for around 15 minutes, or until the edges become a golden brown.
