Peanut Butter Oatmeal Squares

When I left you last, I told you we'd be taking a culinary tour of St. Kitts. Since we ate soo much throughout our trip, I thought it'd be nice to break it down into a few posts.

View of St. Kitts from our boat :)

On our date night in St. Kitts, we walked 50 yards (not kidding) from Mary and Gary's house the a restaurant called, The Beach House. It sits on what used to be their restaurant/bar, Turtle Beach.

This pics was with the flash, here is what it really looked like...

It was RIGHT on the water, so we could hear the ocean and had a really nice breeze the entire meal. So romantic. After we placed our order, the server brought out a complimentary tasting from the chef - a delicious ceviche. Mmmm.

We also munched on some [not pictured] bread and a little walnut/honey and blue cheese butters. For my main course, I ordered a watermelon/feta salad and the goat cheese/pesto bread with balsamic drizzle.

Jeff ordered the manly meal - Beef Tenderloin. It was served with crispy onions and mashed potatoes and a delicious gravy. It was so tender and flavorful.

For dessert, we ordered the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with ice cream and expresso sauce. OMG. Out of this world! They were literally hot out of the oven! Espresso + chocolate = heaven.

I liked my salad so much, that I made one for dinner last night...

In a HUGE pasta bowl, served with lots of garlic bread and a sour cream dressing. It was divine! All you do for the dressing, is sub sour cream for the olive oil. I used red wine vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and dijon, and it was amazing. Will have to make this for Jeff!

I also had two of these:

This is an easy, healthy dessert/snack that kids will love. Get this- no butter, oil, or egg! I would probably try my next batch with an egg white though. I like things straight out of the oven and that's just not possible with these, since there is no binder.

When you start the batter, it should look loose and clumpy.

But when the milk is added, it gets nice and batter-like.

After 20 minutes of baking, and a lot of cooling, you'll have delicious, not-too-sweet bars to munch on.

Enjoy!

PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL SQUARES

Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Squares

makes 9 squares

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cups creamy peanut butter, like Skippy Natural

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add peanut butter and sugar and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.

3. Add in flour, oats, salt and baking soda, mixing on medium speed. The dough will look crumbly and you want the peanut butter mix to be broken up into clumps. Add milk with the mixer on low speed, and mix until a dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Make sure dough is completely combined, and roll it into a ball with your hands. Place it in the middle of an 8×8 baking dish, pressing it to fit. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until set and golden on top. Let cool completely, then cut into 9 squares.