Breakfast bars!

Breakfast is hard. I don’t really enjoy doing anything between when I wake up and when I drink my coffee, but that’s also prime breakfast time. On the weekends, I can get up, brew my coffee, make something delicious, and then enjoy my morning — but that’s just not going to happen during the week.

I don’t really like eating cereal, but I end up eating a lot of it. It’s the fastest, easiest option by far. The downside is I’m always hungry well before lunch.

I’m trying to solve my breakfast dilemma with these breakfast bars. I can make them Sunday afternoon and eat them all week! Perfect, right?

Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars

• Servings: 6
• Time: 25 min
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

(adapted from PopSugar)

Ingredients

• 3/4 c peanut butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 c oatmeal
• 1/2 c sliced almonds
• 1/3 c dried cranberries
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a saucepan, whisk together peanut butter and honey over medium heat until melted.
3. Add vanilla and cinnamon; stir. Turn heat to low.
4. Add the oats and water. Whisk it together until it’s well mixed, then add cranberries and almonds.
5. Pour into a 6×12 or 9×9 pan and press down. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
6. Let cool completely and cut into bars.

Also, because making this was very nearly a disaster, here’s some tips to help you out!

• Do not actually use a whisk. A fork works much better for stirring in the oats.
• If it seems too dry while you’re mixing it, add another tbsp of water — it will make your life easier and then evaporate in the heat. Perfect.
• Make sure you really press the mixture down in the pan. That will help keep it together once it’s baked.

Here’s hoping this puts an end to my breakfast problems. How do you handle weekday breakfasts?