Almond Butter Dream Bars

Ok, I'm being a little eccentric with the title of these bars - but they are seriously SO DELICIOUS. They are candy bar delicious, my friends. I have tried to make homemade granola bars before and failed in flavor and in form. I wanted a granola bar or a cookie or SOMETHING earlier today, but I wasn't willing to let myself succumb to the kids' cookies or leftover Christmas candy.

So, we went for it. I had to make some more almond butter, but it was totally worth it. To date, these are the best homemade granola bars I've made and tried. As I posted on my Instagram and FB page, these are not 100% clean. If I would have had Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chips on-hand, I would have used those. Alas, I had Tollhouse milk chocolate chips leftover from holiday baking. I added less than 2TB in the whole recipe; so, really, it's a pretty minor offense. Do what you wish; I don't think a few Tollhouse chips vs. 100% dark chocolate - in this recipe - will make or break your day.

This recipe makes about eight or so bars. Double it up if you want more or make as is if you're skeptical.

Here's what you need: 

• 2 cups raw old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 TB unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 1 TB chia seeds
• 3/4 cup almond butter - I used my own recipe, but any natural nut butter is fine.
• 1 tsp pure vanilla or vanilla extract
• Sea salt, just a conservative dusting
• 2 TB of unsweetened shredded coconut
• About 1TB of chocolate chips.
• Enough honey to coat the mixture together as you combine - giving it some stickiness.

Here's what you do: (ready? this is so challenging...)

• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients listed above.  
• Press into an 8x8 baking dish, lined with parchment.
• Move dish to the freezer until solid. 
• Remove when solid; cut into bars or bite size pieces (better for kids) and enjoy!
• You may want to return the bars to the fridge for storage as they do get a little melty at higher room temps. 

Tips: 

• WAIT until they really solidify to serve. If you try to eat these soon after you make them, you will need a spoon. Don't say I didn't warn you.
• Don't over-do it on the honey. You really just need it and the peanut butter to bind the rest of the ingredients together. 

That's it! SO easy, so delicious and more or less guilt-free! I will definitely be making these again. They are an awesome alternative to store-bought bars and take very little time or effort to put together. Hope you enjoy them!!!

Here's to all the breakfast sandwich lovers!!!!

Okay, I realize that I just told you about my dinner a few hours ago - but I really can't wait until later this evening to tell you about breakfast! I absolutely love breakfast sandwiches. We don't usually get breakfast out; whenever we go on a road trip, though, getting a breakfast sandwich (preferably something McNasty) is one of the highlights. Is that sad? I don't think that's sad.

My glorious waffle egg sandwich.

A month or so I was cruising the aisles of Target and made one of the best impulse-buys of all time. The Hamilton Beach 25475A Breakfast Sandwich Maker (which is cheaper on Amazon than at Target) has been my breakfast go-to almost every morning since.

Here's how it works - the sandwich maker has a few different layers. You add in half of your bread/muffin and the cheese; then add egg and salt or other seasonings in the next layer and top with the rest of the bread/muffin. It cooks it all together and is ready in about 5 minutes!

At first I started with standard breakfast sandwiches (one of my favorites is the egg-white breakfast sandwich from Tim Hortons). I just used an english muffin, egg, cheddar and some salt and pepper to re-create. It was super tasty, but pretty basic. I started imagining all the possibilities...

Egg sandwich on Ezekiel muffins with spicy cheese

Variations

Hubby's double fried egg experiment

• I bought a spicy shredded cheese from the grocery. Basically once that happened, I haven't gone back to a normal cheddar since. I LOVE spicy cheese.
• Using *special edition* english muffins. I tried the apple and my husband tried pumpkin - both were very good!!!
• Yesterday and the day before, I used Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin english muffins (with said spicy cheese), egg, and salt. That was tasty, but my husband wasn't a fan. He claimed too many flavors. We'll just agree to disagree. I thought it was great. 
• This morning, I attempted my ultimate sandwich...I wasn't sure this was going to work because of the size of the waffles, but it totally did. Two blueberry waffles; 1 egg with salt; 1 slice of colby jack cheese. I could eat this sammie EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Omgosh. I may even try to incorporate syrup somehow. It was SO good and I didn't feel that fast food breakfast guilt. Eggo makes a similar frozen breakfast sandwich, but they are like $6 for 4 sandwiches and not as good. I bought them one time and got one - our oldest daughter got the other three over a couple day time period. 
• Also this morning, my husband used the sandwich maker to create a double fried? egg. It came out beautifully. He's so sensible. 

So, those are just a few of things you can do with this amazing device. Now, can I get my own informercial?