Homemade Energy Bars

My favorite spot to look for homemade energy bar recipes is Enlightened Cooking. I've used her recipe for lara-type bars in the past and they were delicious. A few weeks ago, she posted a recipe for homemade TRIO and KIND bars.  I recently discovered KIND bars, but was not thrilled with the price (anywhere from $1.75 to $2.19 each). I was really happy to see a recipe for these on Enlightened Cooking.  My favorite type of KIND bar has chocolate in it, but all the recipes on Enlightened Cooking were the fruit and nut bars.  I decided to follow the proportions given on Enlightened Cooking and substitute chocolate chips for the dried fruit.  I also added a scoop of peanut butter, just because. The bars turned out great! I enjoyed eating them in the morning with coffee, or breaking one in half and eating it as a snack when I needed my "chocolate fix."  I also made the TRIO bar recipe from her post and used a mix of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, and dried cranberries.  They were also delicious.  Most variations can be found on Enlightened Cooking, but I will post my chocolate peanut butter bars, since they were not on her site.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bars
Adapted from Enlightened Cooking 

1 1/3 cups mixed nuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup brown rice syrup, honey, or barley malt syrup (honey will be very sticky)
2 tablespoons peanut butter

1) Preheat oven to 325.
2) Line an 8-inch square pan with foil.  Grease well.
3) In a medium-sized bowl, mix nuts, crisp rice cereal, and chocolate chips.
4) Mix salt, syrup, and peanut butter in a small bowl. Pour over dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until well-mixed. It will be very sticky.
5) Spread bar mixture into pan.  Use a spatula to to make even.
6) Bake for 14 - 18 minutes.
7) Cool for 15 minutes.  Cut into 8 bars, but do not remove from foil yet.  It will be too sticky.
8) When bars have cooled completely, remove from foil.