Now that school is back in session, I’m back to grocery shopping by myself and it feels like such a luxury.  Among all of the many activities that I love doing with my children, grocery shopping is not one of them.  Because shopping with them is bit tricky, I try hard to stay organized with my list and I make the outings as quick as I can.  I celebrated my first grocery shopping trip sans-children by meandering slowly through the aisles while basking in the quietness of it all.  The snack aisle is my weakness, and there were these peanut pretzel bars that caught my eye.  I slipped the box into my cart and managed to wait until I got into the car to break into one.  It was the perfect balance of sweet and salty, and peanut butter along with dark chocolate is always a winning combination.  Within two days I had my own version- a crispy, chewy no-bake bar filled with peanuts, pretzels, oats, and  brown rice crisps.  It’s bound together with peanut butter and brown rice syrup, and finished off with a quick dip in melted dark chocolate.  For the longest time I’d resisted brown rice syrup, not wanting to buy yet another variety of sweetener, and instead sticking with the more common honey or maple syrup.  My curiosity got the best of me and I finally tried brown rice syrup.  And it really does make a better snacking bar.  It lends to a perfect chewy texture, has a much more mild flavor than the more pronounced honey and maple syrup, and is completely worth the extra storage space in the pantry.  Hope you enjoy.  xo

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