No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

Now officially working three jobs, my baking time has sadly dwindled into a few remaining evening and weekend hours. (You know, the ones that are also occupied with walking the dog, preparing meals, fitting in exercise, time with friends and family, and catching up on my reality TV marathons). Luckily, summer days are longer and, hey, I’m getting paid to teach elementary school kids—that thing I’m trying to do as a career (until I open my own bake shop).

Like many of my recipes, this was inspired by one that my mom often made in the warm summer months for my sister and I. It doesn’t require an oven—just the melting together of cocoa, sugar, and (in my case) coconut butter on the stove before stirring in a few other basic ingredients. From what I can gather, no-bake cookies are a Midwest thing, usually with peanut butter and butter, and dropped in dollops onto cookie sheets to harden. Besides the obvious axing of the butter, I opted for almond butter over peanut (it’s just what I had on hand) and poured it all into a square baking dish, resulting in even-easier-to-make bars. The first time I made them they lacked a little something, so I added chopped nuts for more texture and kick of flavor. Go ahead, try them!

Lazy Summer No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars
¾ c. evaporated cane juice
¼ c. cocoa (unsweetened)
¼ c. coconut butter
¼ c. almond milk
¼ c. almond butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ c. quick-cooking oats
½ c. chopped almonds

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Boil for one to two minutes.
2. Add final three ingredients, blending until fully combined.
3. Stir in chopped nuts.
4. Let cool and harden.
5. Cut and serve.

Use What You've Got
* Evaporated cane juice: Plain old sugar will work in its place. I haven't tried this with a liquid sweetener, like agave, so I'm not sure how this would affect the texture.
* Cocoa: You could also melt chocolate and add it in if you don't have any cocoa powder. Just make sure it's dairy-free chocolate.
* Coconut butter: If you don't feel like making a special trip for coconut butter (although it's really not that expensive and will last quite awhile), cooking oil would work in its place. The bars will lack that creamy flavor, though.
* Almond butter: These are traditionally made with peanut butter, and any other nut butter would work as well. I just like to make sure my chopped nuts are the same type as my nut butter.