Go-Lean Bars

These bars had their start as a favorite in Jim’s family, which have been ‘healthified’ by me (to the extent that you can healthify a dessert based around sugar, peanut butter and chocolate). It was always understood by Jim to be a ‘secret family recipe’. The term “Rice Crispy Treats” in Jim’s house never implied the marshmallow-butter concoction that we’re all familiar with; they had a different bar. The basic construction of their version is as follows: sugar and corn syrup heated, mixed with peanut butter and Rice Crispies, pressed into a pan, and then topped with a mixture of melted chocolate and butterscotch. They are delightful, but oh-so indulgent and completely devoid of any nutritional worth (except for protein in peanut butter, I suppose—but it’s been drowned in sugar, so that’s probably a stretch). After changing my eating habits years ago, I forbade these creatures from our home for a long time. But, Jim missed them and would speak of Rice Crispy Treats with forlorn sadness. I aim to please: I finally endeavored to improve their nutritional profile, so I could allow them to once again grace our kitchen.

If the original was actually a family recipe of his, I probably wouldn’t even be writing this entry now, as I wouldn’t want to let the cat out of the bag (I still won’t post my Grammy’s famous Clam Dip, to the apparent great relief of my paternal relatives). But here I am writing this because, as it turns out, this was not so much a ‘secret family recipe’ after all. I remember the day when he discovered this disturbing fact: we were in Jim’s parents’ kitchen and he spotted a recipe on the back of the Rice Crispy box for ‘Peanut Butter Scotcheroos’. This recipe was frighteningly similar to (read: exactly the same as) his grandmother’s top-secret recipe. “But that’s my grandmother’s secret…recipe”, he said, trailing off toward the end. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a grown man so crushed over something not involving death or love. He still continued to make them, but with an odd combination of sorrow that they were not ‘his family’s bars’ and a conviction that somehow Kellogg’s had stolen the recipe from his grandmother, the true inventor.

So, that brings us to the present day. There’s not too much you can do to make these bars more healthful, other than making a major substitution in the type of cereal used. Rice Crispies are relatively flavorless, and therefore make a great backdrop to be drowned in sugar and peanut butter. But, they don’t provide anything in terms of nutrition. Go-Lean cereal, on the other hand, is similarly bland (it’s hardly sweetened, if at all), but provides a whopping 10 grams of fiber per 1 cup serving (go fiber!!). My first version included only Go-Lean, but I’ve recently started adding old-fashioned oats, which has met with Jim’s approval (a chocolate-smudged thumbs up). These treats are still loaded with sugar (a little less in my formulation than in the original), but at least they have something going for them since they’re high in fiber. Have a couple of these for dessert, and you’ll have the poo of your life the next morning (and as anyone who knows me very well can attest, I view the quality of that endeavor as perhaps the most important element in a great day).

I also made a few other substitutions and additions over time—not so much in the name of health, but to coax out more flavor. First, I substitute brown sugar for the white; the brown sugar provides a greater depth of flavor and you also can cut back the amount slightly because of the stronger taste. I tried substituting brown rice syrup for the original corn syrup, and did this for quite a few batches, but I’ve gone back to corn syrup because we’ve had it on hand recently—but brown rice syrup also works quite well. I also added vanilla extract (I’m a little surprised that it didn’t appear in the original) and butterscotch schnapps to the sugar mixture (butterscotch schnapps is the most wonderful thing—I’ve recently discovered it, and it’s now my secret weapon in most cookies and bars). Finally, I use natural peanut butter, knowing that Jim’s family would always use Jif/Skippy, etc. We only ‘stock’ natural peanut butter in our house, and I will not buy the ‘regular’ peanut butter, loaded with added sugars and hydrogenated oils, just for this application. Contrary to what some naysayers might claim (Cooks Illustrated comes to mind), I find that natural peanut butter works great in all baking applications—you just have to stir it well to be sure the oil is thoroughly and evenly integrated (and store it upside down).

I tried to get these bars made and the evidence cleaned up before Jim came home from work yesterday, but he came home just when I was finishing and ‘caught’ me. He walked in the front door and asked me what I was making—I gave him the chocolate-butterscotch coated spoon to lick as a clue. “Go-Lean bars! Awesome!” This time I only made a 9x9 pan, so we don’t go too overboard. I know that we could finish the 9 x 13 that I would normally make, but we certainly shouldn’t.
Go-Lean Bars

Ingredients:
½ c brown sugar
¾ c light corn syrup
¾ c smooth natural peanut butter
2 T vanilla extract
1 T butterscotch schnapps
3 – 4 c Kashi Go-Lean cereal
½ to ¾ c old fashioned oats
¾ bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more, if you want a thicker coating)
½ bag butterscotch chips (or more, if you want a thicker coating)

Method:
Mix brown sugar and corn syrup in large non-stick pot (you probably need something at least 4 quarts for this—I used to use our 4 qt. chef’s pan, until the nonstick coating disintegrated; recently I’ve been using a deep 14-in fry pan).

Cook over low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture loosens and bubbles just begin to come through the surface. (Note: I’m serious here—DO NOT let this mixture go too long over heat or you WILL end up with rock candy. Even if you don’t go far enough to get into rock-candy territory, if you allow the temperature of the sugars to get too high, your bars will not be tender and will instead be overly crunchy—and teeth-hurty. Take the syrup off heat when it’s loosened and just barely starting to bubble and you should be fine).

Once the sugar mixture has reached the state described above, remove the pan from heat. Stir in the vanilla and butterscotch schnapps, then the peanut butter, until well combined. Begin adding the cereal and oats, carefully folding to avoid crushing the cereal (this will take some arm strength, especially toward the end). I gave a range for the cereal amount, above—judge the final amount by eye, based on whether you want a more cereal-heavy bar, or a more gooey bar.

Once all of the cereal and oats have been incorporated, press mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish (metal or glass; doesn’t matter). Heat the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a microwave safe dish for 30 seconds on high. Stir and microwave in 15-second spurts until enough of the chips are melted/melting, that you can finish the job with some vigorous stirring. Pour the chocolate mixture over the bars, spreading as evenly as possible. Keep uncovered at room temperature for a few hours until the chocolate hardens. Cover with foil and store at room temperature.

As you can see, these were a hit. We got pretty piggy with them.