No Bake Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Minnesota is known for many things such as the beautiful land of 10,000 lakes, mind boggling long and cold winters, Garrison Kiellor, and our family favorite, the Twins.

What we are not known for are summer days so hot and humid that all outdoor activities, sports and recreation are put on hold. So hot and humid, even while sitting in a pool, you can't stop sweating. So hot and humid, it actually makes you wonder how many more weeks until winter.

This past week has been complete torture for us Minnesotans. We can take -30 degrees like it is nothing but heat indexes of 115 - 120 degrees completely ruin us. I am one who will take the cold any day over what we have experienced this week. (Please remind me of this about halfway through February when I can't take another day of Minnesota winter!)

To put it nicely, there is no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks I was going to turn on the oven in my home. I began searching for a new no-bake cookie recipe and came upon this gem. Nothing but some bowls in the microwave required!

The original recipe calls for chocolate wafers, but the three stores in my town do not carry them, so in a moment of desperation, I substituted chocolate Teddy Grahams. If you try it with the original ingredient, please let me know how they turned out. My kids absolutely loved these bars and they are so pretty to boot!

No Bake Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

adapted from marthastewart.com

9 ounces chocolate wafers, finely ground into 2 cups

(These were nowhere to be found in my small town so I used chocolate Teddy Grahams!)

1 1/2 C old fashioned oats

1 1/4 C powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C + 2 Tb unsalted butter

1 C chunky peanut butter

3/4 C smooth peanut butter

1 3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips

1 (1.5 ounce) Hersheys milk chocolate bar

3 Tb smooth peanut butter

1. Lightly spray the inside of a 9 x 13 cake pan. Combine waters, oats, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Melt butter in a medium bowl in the microwave bowl for 1 minute. Add the chunky peanut butter and the 3/4 C creamy peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to the wafer mixture and stir until combined. (I used my hands at the end to get it completely mixed).

2. Press the mixture into the cake pan evenly then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute then stir. If needed, microwave for another 20 or 30 seconds to completely melt. Spread onto the cooled bars in an even layer. Refrigerate again for 15-20 minutes until chocolate is firm.

3. Microwave the remaining creamy peanut butter for 45 seconds until it is runny. Drizzle over the bars. Do the same with the milk chocolate and drizzle over the peanut butter. Refrigerate until hardened, about 30 minutes.

4. To cut, warm your knife in hot water, then wipe off the water. Use the hot knife to cut through the chocolate easily.