No Bake Chocolate Nut Bars

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I was in the grocery store the other day and was just a bit hungry I went over to my favorite display of Mariani Honey Bars and picked out a new variety I had not seen before called “Chocolaty Peanut Butter” when I bit into it I thought to myself this bar tastes so much like a recipe I have had since my college days and haven’t made for a while.

I went back to the display the next week and picked up another bar, this time I didn’t eat it but instead kept it in tact so that I could read the ingredients and then alter my recipe accordingly and test it for texture and flavor.

I didn’t really have to alter my original recipe much, I simply swapped out the rice krispies for natural puffed rice,  and the sunflower seeds for raw almonds and unsalted raw peanuts.

To make the nuts blend into the bar better I placed them in my food processor and used the pulse setting for 60 t0 90 seconds.

Here is what the nuts looked like when I was finished pulsing them.

I then  lightly greased my 9 by 12 metal pan. Inside I placed the 3 cups puffed rice, 1 cup chocolate chips, the 1 cup nuts ( 1/2 cup almonds, 1/2 cup peanuts) and stirred them around until the ingredients looked well blended.

Now it was time to break out the honey and peanut butter. For this recipe I always use 100% natural peanut butter, which means the only ingredients listed on the label should be peanuts and salt, no sugar, no added fat.  I swirled the honey and peanut butter together in a small saucepan and then put it on medium heat. I kept stirring it until it started to bubble just slightly, at that point it is also more runny than when it started.

Next I poured the peanut butter and honey mixture over the rest of the ingredients and start blending it in.

The batter started to form into one big ball of chocolaty nutty goodness.

I got out a large metal spoon and start pressing down the bar until it filled the whole 9 by 12 pan and then smoothed it out. Finally  I placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.

To store the bars I first cut the pan into 14 long and skinny bars, and then I wrapped each one in wax paper since they tend to be a bit on the sticky side. I placed the wrapped bars in the freezer on a cookie sheet  for an additional 30 minutes and then placed them all in a gallon ziplock bag. They will keep several months this way (if you can keep your hands off them that long 🙂 )

I eat mine either directly from the freezer or I take one out and place it in a sandwich bag and pack it along places as a snack. Either way it is super yummy and very filling since it packs a lot of protein from all those nuts.

And yes these no bake chocolate nut bars do taste a lot like the chocolaty peanut butter bars by Honey Bar, in fact I think I like them even better, and they are a lot less expensive.