Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars 

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Serves: 48 person(s)

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins

Yield: 48 x bars

A great holiday treat or lunchbox snack, with 20% less calories than the traditional recipe.
Per bar: 67 calories and 3 g total sugars
Saves: 17 calories and 4 g total sugars

Suggestions:

For a fun Halloween treat, substitute an equal amount of orange "chocolate" chips for the chocolate chips, or add half orange and half chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

This madeover bar takes the exact same recipe and replaces the higher calorie ingredients with lower calorie. By trading whole milk with low-fat milk (or fat-free), large egg with medium, and granulated sugar with Equal® sweetener, these tasty treats skim off the calories, fat and sugars.

To learn more about recipe makeovers see CalorieKing's library article "Smart Substitutes: Your Guide to Low-Calorie Cooking Alternatives".

Recipe Makeover
1/2 cup stick butter or buttery spread, softened 1 cup Equal® Spoonful (or 24 packets Equal® sweetener) * 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 1/2 cup 2% milk 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 medium egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup quick oats, uncooked 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Traditional Recipe
1/2 stick of butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup quick oats, uncooked 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, Equal® and brown sugar until well combined. Stir in milk, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until blended. Gradually mix in combined flour, oats, baking soda and salt until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread mixture evenly in well-sprayed 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 23 to 25 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares; store in airtight container at room temperature.

Variations:

* NOTE: If desired, in the above recipe, the 1 cup Equal® Spoonful can be replaced by 1 cup granulated sugar (or if brown sugar is preferred, add an additional 1 cup brown sugar, making a total of 1-1/3 cups brown sugar).

Sugar serving suggestion is not included in the nutritional analysis.

Author:

Merisant/Equal®
Equal®