Peanut-Butter Frosted Energy Bars

I love the creative process, especially in the kitchen. This recipe was a perfect example of "creating as you go", because that's exactly what I did. I made these energy bars by combining ingredients that I thought would go well together to create a healthy cookie-type snack. The finished product, however, was not really to my liking. They were big, ugly, and a little bland. In other words, they really tasted healthy. I wanted healthy that tasted unhealthy - maybe that's too much to ask? Well, with a little help from my resident taste-testers (a.k.a. kids) we finally yielded an end product that satisfies both the healthy tooth (if there really is such a thing) and the sweet tooth. I hope you like.

Peanut-Butter Frosted Energy Bars
Copyright 2012 Brendilly Bakes, all rights reserved













Energy Bar Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 cup Quick-Cooking Oats
1 cup Wheat Germ
1/4 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 cups stemmed, Dried Figs
1t. Ground Cinnamon
1/3 cup Agave Maple Syrup
2 large Eggs

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray
2. Place the oats, wheat germ, flour, figs, and cinnamon in a food processor; coarsely chop
3. Add the Agave maple syrup and eggs; pulse until well combined.
4. Transfer the mixture to the pan; spread evenly with greased fingers.
5. Bake about 20 mins.. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then cut into 16 bars. Cut those bars in half and frost.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1 cup smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Honey

In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and honey and mix well.



These healthy treats are dense, chewy, and perfectly satisfying with a nice cold glass of milk. :-)



NOTE: Agave maple syrup can be found in the grocery store with the other pancake syrups, or any health food store.