I have been baking at work for the last few weeks. Coming in early and baking and icing the cupcakes. It has been so much fun! Baking is what I love to do and working in the kitchen side of things at work just feels right.
The early starts are hard to get used to but they leave me with most of the afternoon and evening off, which I love.
Those afternoons give me lots of time for blogging and baking. But not that much energy after those early wake-ups. So this was a great recipe to stumble upon the other day. A no-bake recipe!
I was really craving something sweet and all I had to do was mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan, pour them into a pan and stick the whole thing in the freezer. That sounded great – so easy and so perfect for my sleepy self to make.
Then I was kidding myself all evening while eating these that oats and rice bubbles totally make these bars healthy. Which they are totally not.
I love the crispy, airy surprises of rice bubbles (rice krispies over there in the states?) in all that rich, chocolate-y Nutella goodness.
Do the oats and rice bubbles mean I can call these breakfast, too?
NUTELLA AND PEANUT BUTTER OAT BARS
Inspired by Love Veggies and Yoga.
110g unsalted butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup milk
6 tbsp Nutella
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cup rice bubbles
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Line a 8 x 9 inch tray with baking paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, both sugars, cocoa and milk. Place the saucepan over a high heat and bring the mixture to boiling point, continuously stirring. Boil for 90 seconds, still stirring, then remove from heat.
Mix in the Nutella and peanut butter well, then stir in the oats and rice bubbles to coat.
Pour into the lined tray and spread the mixture out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.
Place in the freezer for about an hour, until set, then slice up and enjoy. Makes 16 bars.