Chocolate Cranberry No-Bake cookie bars

This recipe has been in process for several months.  It is a merging of two different recipes with some of my own creative additions thrown in.  Overall, I think it turned out pretty well! It took a few tries with different things to finally find a version I liked.  The last attempt before this final version tasted excellent, but was very crumbly.  There are no guarantees I will not continue to play with this recipe, but for now I am happy with the most recent version.

Chocolate Cranberry No-Bake cookie bars

½ c honey
¼ c cocoa
¼ c milk
¼ c coconut oil
½ c peanut butter
½ tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1 ½ c oatmeal
½ c dried cranberries
½ c coconut
½ c walnut pieces 

Boil honey, cocoa, milk, coconut oil for 1 minute.  Stir in peanut butter, vanilla and salt.  Add oats, craisins, coconut, walnuts and mix well.  Spread into greased 8” square pan.  Cool, cut into squares.
Notes: excellent!  Not crumbly.  In fact, almost too soft if not kept in fridge. Should be able to double the recipe for a 9x13” pan since I halved the recipe for this experiment. 

The recipes I started with are given below:

No-bake cookies

2 c sugar
¼ c cocoa
½ c milk
½ c butter
½ c peanut butter
3 c oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Boil first four ingredients for 1 minute.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix until well blended.  Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper to cool.

Chocolate Cranberry No-Bake bars
from Annie’s blog-September 2012

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups oats
1 & 1/4 cups mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:
1. In a saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil.
2. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Stir until combined and until the chocolate chips are melted.
3. Spread into a 9 by 13 pan and refrigerate before serving.  (Cut into bite-sized bars and store in refrigerator.)