Potluck Peanut Butter Oat Bars

 The “Cooking School” Collection 2012

Principal Paula Becker

Christ the King School

Browerville, Minnesota

  

These peanut butter oat bars can be “ready in a snap” for potlucks, as their name implies. But, I wouldn’t stop there — they would be most appreciated for any occasion.

Paula Becker has been baking them for events of all kinds for the last 18 years. “This is an ‘old faithful recipe’ for me because I always have the ingredients for it on hand,” she said. “Every time I take them somewhere I get asked for the recipe. It is so easy that it is almost embarrassing. People think the recipe is going to be more complicated than it is.”

I whipped up a batch last week and definitely agree with Paula that they are not only a cinch to make but also very tasty! CJK

Potluck Peanut Butter Oat Bars

(Paula Becker)

(Photos by Bill Vossler)

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. vanilla

4 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/3 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9 by13-inch pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and oats together in a stand mixer or by hand. Press into prepared pan and bake at 400°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.

Heat the chocolate and butterscotch chips and peanut butter in the microwave for two minutes and mix until well blended. Spread on top of warm bars. Cool before cutting. 

Yield: 36 bars

A note from Paula: My sons all love these bars — they are a family favorite! Over time I’ve tried both creamy and crunchy peanut butter for the recipe and have found that I like the texture of creamy peanut butter best.

A note from Carol: Paula Becker has been the principal at Christ the King School for eight years. She teaches pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes there as well. She formerly taught at St. Mary of Mount Carmel School in Long Prairie for one year and St. Andrew School in Elk River for four and a half years.

Paula and her husband, Chad, president and CEO of MetaFarms Inc., an agriculture technology company, attend Christ the King Parish in Browerville with their family. They have four sons: Nathan (19), Nicholas (15), Noah (14) and Nye (9). Chad, Nicholas and Noah are all alumni of Christ the King School, where Nye is a fourth-grader. Nathan is an alumnus of St. Andrew School.

The Potluck Peanut Butter Oat Bars are one of the more than 450 recipes featured in the “Christ the King Family Recipes” cookbook, which can be purchased for $12 each (plus postage and handling) from the school. Contact Roxanne Determan, school secretary/bookkeeper, at 320-594-6114 or ctkoffice@embarqmail.com to buy one.