Chunky Monkey PB Granola Bars are on serious rotation around here for breakfast lately! One batch will last most of the week. I started eating granola bars this past year because I’m usually busy in the mornings and I really don’t want much to eat until around 11 am. I quickly decided to make my own instead of buying them literally all the time. Best decision! They are so much better and the flavor combos are endless it seems. And honestly, this is the best way to use up nuts/seeds that are left over from the holidays and you know that no one will eat them any other way 😁.
What are in the chunky monkey pb granola bars?
The name Chunky Monkey might make them sound really unhealthy but, they are not. They do have chocolate in them but, I used dark chocolate which is usually(depending on which one you use)not very high in sugar. Chocolate has loads of antioxidants which are very beneficial to our health. The only other sweetener that is used is honey!
The one fun ingredient here the banana chips. They are crunchy and taste faintly sweet and pair so well with the peanut butter and honey. They stay crispy even after being stirred into the hot and honey mixture and then refrigerated overnight!
We also have old-fashioned oatmeal and salted toasted pepitas(which are pumpkin seeds) in there 🙂 I found my pepitas at Aldi’s but added a link below to a similar product!
How easy are they to make?
It couldn’t be easier! Melt the first three ingredients together. Then stir in the rest of them and press down into a parchment lined baking pan.
So easy! And you can go wild and come up with your own crazy combinations 🙂
Chunky Monkey PB Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks/chips
- 3 cups oats
- 1 cup dried banana chips
- 1/2 cup roasted salted pepitas
Instructions
- Combine peanut butter, honey, and olive oil in a large stockpot over low heat. Stir until they are all melted together and remove from heat.
- Add chocolate chunks, oats, dried banana chips, and pepitas and stir until everything is combined.
- Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper. * I leave enough paper to pull the granola mix up out of the pan which makes cutting into bars so much easier.
- Spread the granola mixture evenly into the pan. I used a piece of parchment paper to press the mixture down with my hands.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or until firm enough to cut into bars.
- Granola bars are chewy and slightly sticky. I usually either line a storage container with wax or parchment paper or wrap each bar individually and then stack into the container. Either way works and prevents them from sticking together.
- The recipe makes 14 bars or more depending on what size you cut them!
Items used to make this recipe!
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