White Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Skewers

Strawberries and pound cake. They're made for each other! Drizzled with white chocolate, these Strawberry Pound Cake Skewers make a beautiful dessert!

It's my favorite time of the year!  The weather is starting to get warmer, the days are longer, and the gardens are growing!  Our local farmer's market opened up a couple weeks ago and Summer and I went down to get some fresh vegetables.  There aren't too many fruits in season yet, but that time will be here soon.

My strawberry plants have flowers, and I'm hoping it won't be long before the fruit starts to grow.  In the meantime, I'll keep enjoying strawberries from the grocery store or the farmer's market.  The past few times I've purchased strawberries I've been impressed with how red and flavorful they are.  I love to have a big bowl of strawberries for snack.

I also enjoy strawberries as a part of a delicious dessert like the topping of a pound cake or center stage in these delicious White Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Skewers.  I made my favorite Almond Pound Cake with fresh strawberry sauce for Mother's Day dessert a couple weeks ago.  I had about half a cake left over, and while the cake alone was delicious, I wanted to come up with a fun way to enjoy the rest.

These skewers were a fun way to enjoy both the pound cake and the abundance of strawberries I had!  They're super easy to make and make an impressive impression when served!  I first made these on small skewers, but then decided they looked a little boring.  I decided to use longer skewers and drizzle white chocolate on top of the strawberries and pound cake.  I'm glad I did--the chocolate drizzle was just what this dessert needed to liven it up and make it special.

The directions on this cake are pretty basic. You can make as many or as few skewers as you'd like.  If you want to use an entire pound cake, go for it.  If you have half a cake leftover like I did, then use that!  In fact, you could even use an angel food cake if you wanted to!  Chocolate chips would be a delicious topping if you didn't want to use white chocolate.  Make mini skewers or make longer ones.  You can come up with any pattern you'd like too--so have fun with these!

White Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Skewers

Ingredients:
Pound cake
Strawberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

1.  Cut the pound cake into thick slices and then cube each slice.

2.  Wash and hull strawberries. Cut in half, if desired.

3.  Assemble the skewers in any pattern that you desire.  I did pound cake-strawberry-pound cake etc.

4.  Put the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then microwave in 15 second increments, stirring after each time, until chocolate can be stirred smooth.

5.  Scoop the chocolate chips into a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the end snipped off and drizzle over the skewers.  Allow the chocolate to harden before serving.

Cover any leftovers and refrigerate.

Bacon Parmesan Chickpeas

Crisp and salty Bacon Parmesan Chickpeas are a unique and delicious snack. You won't be able to eat just one!

How was your Holiday weekend?  Were you lucky enough to get a 3 day weekend?  Did you spend lots of time with family and friends?  I had a busy, but fun, weekend.  On Saturday, we took a day trip to Shipshewana.  It's a little under a 2 hour drive from our house, so the perfect distance for a day away.  We did a lot of shopping and scored a lot of deals.  Oh the deals!  And the food...the food was amazing!  Sunday was our typical Sunday: church and then lunch with my parents.  We also got together with our small group, so that was a fun ending to our day.  Then Monday was a family/do stuff around the house day.  I did a bit of shopping, planted my garden, and did some random projects around the house.

Yes, a busy, but fun weekend indeed!

When it's so busy, I love to have quick snacks to grab on the go.  These Bacon Parmesan Chickpeas are the perfect snack.  You can grab a handful on the fly, or put a few in a bowl to enjoy while relaxing.  They're fun enough that you could serve them at a party too!

I tried baked chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) a while back when some friends were raving about them.  To be honest, I wasn't impressed.  My chickpeas didn't get crispy, so it was like eating warm chickpeas.  Pretty boring if you ask me.  I wasn't really interested in trying them again until I saw a recipe on Authentic Suburban Gourmet, my assigned blog for last week's Secret Recipe Club reveal.  Since the Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites turned out so delicious, I thought I'd give these chickpeas a try.

I'm glad I did!  I don't know if it was the bacon, or the Parmesan, or the crisp chickpeas which did it for me, but whatever it was, I've been won over!  These chickpeas needed to bake for a long time to get crispy (where I failed last time I made them).  A few weren't so crisp, but most of them were and that made all the difference in this snack!

Besides, it has bacon in it.  How can you go wrong?!

Bacon Parmesan Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas
2 slices of bacon
salt
Parmesan cheese

1.  Drain and rinse chickpeas.  Remove any outer skins and discard.

2.  Cook bacon until crisp (don't drain the grease!).  Remove from pan and crumble.

3.  Add the chickpeas to the pan that you cooked the bacon in stir to coat the chickpeas in the bacon drippings.

4.  Spread chickpeas onto a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until chickpeas are crisp.

5.  Remove chickpeas from the oven and top with crumbled bacon, salt, and Parmesan cheese.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

If you have leftovers, store them in a covered container in the fridge.  I did find that these are best eaten the day they are made.

Source: Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars

Never decide between chocolate chip cookies and brownies again!  A delicious gooey brownie is sandwiched between layers of chocolate chip cookies, leaving you with an irresistible dessert!

Church potlucks are the bomb dot com!  Did I just say that? ...

Anyway, has anyone ever gone hungry at a church potluck?  I haven't!  A couple weeks ago we had lunch after our church service.  There was a ridiculous amount of desserts on the dessert table.  Have you ever noticed that when there are a lot of dessert options, people tend to take about 5 desserts?  At home I only get 1 dessert choice so that's all I take, but when I have a million choices, I'm going to load up!

One of our youth group kids stopped by our table to show off his creation:  a cookie, topped with a brownie, and topped with another cookie.  It was a cookie brownie sandwich! And it looked amazing!  I thought to myself, I could make that...

So I did!  It was my turn to bring dessert for our small group and since this dessert idea was fresh in my mind, I decided this was the perfect time to give it a try.

I spent a good amount of time researching the idea and trying to figure out the best way to make these bars and get the brownie to cook all the way through without burning the bottom layer.  Turns out, this concept hasn't really been done before, so I was on my own.  I thought about it for a while before deciding that it would be best to bake the bars in steps.  I baked the bottom cookie dough layer and brownie layer for about 20 minutes before adding on the top cookie layer.  The brownie layer turned out perfectly gooey, but not under-baked, and the cookie dough layer wasn't over-baked.  Win!

So next time you have a craving for chocolate chip cookies and brownies, whip up a batch of these bars, then you won't have to choose between the two!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars

Makes one 9x13" pan, about 24 servings

Ingredients:
1 boxed brownie mix, plus ingredients to prepare it
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips


1.  Prepare brownie mix as directed on the box.  Set aside.

2.  Cream together the shortening, butter, and sugars.

3.  Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well.

4.  Stir in the flour and baking soda until completely incorporated.

5.  Add in the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

6.  Divide the cookie dough in half.  Place half in the fridge to chill.  Press the other half into a greased 9x13" pan.

7.  Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough.

8.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  The edges of the brownie should be baked.

9.  When there's about 3 minutes of baking time left, take the other half of the cookie dough out of the fridge.  Place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and use your hands (or a rolling pin) to press the dough into a rectangle approximately 9x13".

10.  Remove the pan from the oven and place the flattened cookie dough on top of the brownie.  If it breaks a little or doesn't fit perfectly, that's okay!

11.  Return to oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the brownie is baked all the way through and the cookie layer is brown.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.  Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites

Bacon. Pineapple. Bites.  A sweet and savory appetizer that tastes both tropical and comfort food-esque.  And yes, I did just make that up!

As you know, I love fruit.  I can easily eat an entire pineapple in a matter of a day or two.  In fact, when I was pregnant I did!  That wives-tale about pineapple causing you to go into labor?  Well, it didn't work for me!  But I sure enjoyed the pineapple.

My friend once told me that the best way to enjoy pineapple is to let the fruit sit in the sun for a few hours to get warm before cutting it up.  This brings out all the juices and it's delicious!

This month I was assigned to Lisa's blog, Authentic Suburban Gourmet, for my Secret Recipe Club assignment.  Lisa's blog isn't new to me as she was assigned to my blog a couple months back and she made her version of my Chunky Chili.

I really enjoyed browsing Lisa's blog and I had a long list of recipes that sounded delicious.  Her Friday Night Bites recipes really stuck out to me because I was on the search for an appetizer to bring to Girl's Night.  I thought I had narrowed my list down, but then I came across the recipe for Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites, and I knew that's what I was going to make.

I had the ingredients already in the house--pretty simple because it's just bacon and pineapple.  I was able to whip these up in just a few minutes.  Mine took nearly double the amount of baking time as the original recipe called for, so I've adjusted that in my directions.  These bites were the perfect combination of sweet and salty; they reminded me of the flavors of Hawaiian Pizza, which happens to be my favorite.  They were also a hit with my cousins, and I have been enjoying the leftovers too.  They're good hot, room temperature, and even cold!

Bacon Wrapped Pineapple

Makes approximately 3 dozen

Ingredients:
1 package (approximately 12 slices) bacon
36 chunks of pineapple (check out my Tips and Tricks post for an easy way to slice your pineapple!)

1.  Cut bacon into 3 equal pieces.

2.  Wrap one piece of bacon around each chunk of pineapple.  Skewer with a toothpick to keep the bacon in place.

3.  Place pineapples on a baking sheet.

4.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, until bacon is crispy.

Source:  Authentic Suburban Gourmet

An InLinkz Link-up

Father's Day Tastebuds Popcorn Give-Away

Is there anything better than sitting down to watch a movie with your favorite people and a big bowl of delicious popcorn on your lap?  How about if the popcorn was free?  Wouldn't you like to win some free popcorn?  Let me tell you, the winner of this popcorn give-away is one lucky person!

Located in Belmont, NC {just a few minutes outside of Charlotte}, Tastebuds Popcorn brings an innovative twist to the country's most popular past-time snack. Each of Tastebuds' 200+ unique flavors has been tested and perfected in their popcorn kitchen, and is produced in micro batches to deliver the freshest, highest quality product. 'Pop' on over to visit and order Tastebuds' popcorn online to give your taste buds a real treat!

One lucky winner will receive 3 medium sized packages of Tastebuds gourmet popcorn in the flavors of their choosing.  Keep one for yourself and give the other 2 for your dad.  Or be nice, and give him all 3. Either way, you both win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rainbow Cupcakes

These fun and easy to make Rainbow Cupcakes bring a hint of spring into your home...and your tummy!

Does anyone else have Spring Fever?  We've had a few days of really beautiful warm weather, and now it's back to cold and rainy.  I feel like I should be in Washington for as cloudy as it is, but this is Michigan.  In fact, yesterday there was a nearly 20 degree temperature difference from the morning to the evening, and the temperature went the wrong way...down.

Anyway, they say that April showers bring May flowers and that is true!  We just finished celebrating Tulip Time where I live and though the week started out with just a bunch of flower buds, it ended up with a lot of gorgeous blooms.  All the rain had something to do with that of course, so I can't be too disappointed with the rain.

And with rain comes rainbows!  I love rainbows.  They're so beautiful and a wonderful reminder of God's promise to us.

These rainbow cupcakes are so fun and easy to make!  I created them for my work's intern celebration last month. They're so happy looking and great for a celebration.  My co-workers loved how they looked and raved about the taste too.

As you can see in the picture, I also created a few cupcakes with eggs.  Bird's eggs are another wonderful reminder of Spring!

I used my favorite boxed cake mix--funfetti for the cupcakes, but you could use any recipe you want.  For the frosting, I again went simple and used an can of frosting along with a package of Duncan Hine's frosting creations in cotton candy flavor to get the blue color for the sky.  I added in a couple drops of yellow food coloring for the green grass.  Then I cut a few Airheads Xtreme Sour Belts Candy in half and curved them to form the rainbows.  Marshmallows made the perfect clouds.  The bird's eggs are simply Cadbury Candy Coated Mini Eggs (yes, I do buy the big bag!)

These cupcakes are sure to be a show stopping dessert on your table too!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Makes 24

Ingredients:
24 cupcakes, baked and cooled
1 can vanilla frosting
1 packet Duncan Hine's Frosting Creations Cotton Candy flavor
12 Airheads Xtreme Sour Belts Candy
1 bag mini marshmallows

1.  Mix together the frosting and the Frosting Creations packet until the color is evenly distributed.

2.  Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes.

3.  Cut Airhead candies in half.  Fold into an arc and place each end into the cupcake.

4.  Place 3 mini marshmallows at the base of each candy.  This forms clouds but also provides support to keep the rainbow in place.

If you want to make the bird's eggs cupcakes:

Ingredients:
24 cupcakes, baked and cooled
1 can vanilla frosting
1 packet  Duncan Hine's Frosting Creations Cotton Candy flavor
3 drops yellow food coloring
96 Cadbury Candy Coated Mini Eggs

1.  Mix together the frosting, Frosting Creations packet, and food coloring until the color is evenly distributed.

2.  Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes.

3.  Place 3 candy eggs in the center of each cupcake.

You can also make any combination of rainbow and bird's eggs cupcakes.  Just make the amount of rainbow cupcakes you want before adding in some yellow food coloring to the frosting and making the rest bird's eggs!

Inspired by: All You

This post contains affiliate links.

Fruit Salsa

Avocados, mangoes, strawberries and a kick from jalapenos, this fresh fruit salsa is the perfect topping for your grilled meat this season!

Spring is my favorite time of year.  Like many others, I was wondering if we would ever see Spring here in Michigan this year.  Thankfully though, it has arrived.  I am loving the weather and the ability to be outside enjoying it!  On Saturday, Summer and I were able to sit outside and play for a while.  It was the first time we've been able to do that.

The warmer weather is amazing and with it comes an abundance of delicious fruits.  I love fruit and eat it year round, but nothing beats fresh in-season fruit.  I'm trying to incorporate more whole foods into my daily diet, and fruit and vegetables make up a large portion of what I eat.

This fresh Fruit Salsa is a versatile recipe: it can be eaten plain, on top of grilled chicken, steak or fish, and it's delicious as a salad topping.  I used my handy Vidalia Chop Wizard to cut up the avocado, mango, and strawberries for this dish.  I love how much time it saves me and that the fruit pieces are fairly uniform.  I had originally planned to use pineapple with the strawberries and avocado, but then I saw a mango and decided to go that route instead.  I think either would be delicious.  The orange juice and lime juice give an extra boost of flavor to this salsa, and the diced jalapeno gives it just enough kick.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.  I think it would make a great addition to any summer cookout!

Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 mango
1 quart strawberries
1 small jalapeno pepper
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro

1.  Cut up avocado, mango, and strawberries into bite-sized pieces.

2.  Remove membrane and seeds from the jalapeno and cut into small pieces.

3.  Drizzle orange juice and lime juice over the fruit and jalapeno.

4.  Sprinkle with cilantro and gently stir.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Inspired by: The Foodie Bride

For tips and tricks on choosing, preparing, and storing your fruits, check out this great posts:
Avocados
Mangoes
Strawberries

This post contains affiliate links.

Private Selection: Burger Nation

This post brought to you by Private Selection. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's as American as burgers, right?  Baseball, apple pie, and burgers; America's staples.  My dad's favorite food is a cheeseburger, so we grew up having burgers every Friday night.  Mike and I also love burgers and, while we don't have them weekly, we do eat our fair share of burgers!  Especially in the summer.

We love to grill our burgers and try different toppings and methods.  My favorite way to enjoy is cheeseburger is with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon cooked into the burger.  The top it with a good portion of pickle slices, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonaise and you've got a mile-high stack of deliciousness.
It seems that everyone has their favorite way to enjoy a burger.  I've seen everything from pizza burgers to double bacon cheddar burgers to olive burgers to a plain burger patty.  Private Selection and Kroger stores want you to share the endless tasting possiblities and topping ideas that Private Selection "Burger Nation" has to offer.

Private Selection is a premium private label brand available only at the Kroger Family of stores and affiliated stores.  They offer  premium quality without the premium price.  Some of their products lines include artisan-inspired gourmet-quality meats, cheeses, bakery items, and baking and cooking ingredients.  You can use this Store Locator  to find a store near you!

Right now, you can enter the Burger Nation Sweepstakes and "make your grill mark on the nation".  Through the Burger Nation Sweepstakes, you have an opportunity to create the ultimate burger at home and enter one of two challenges.  One lucky winner will take home a brand new Weber Summit E-670 Gas Grill!  And just for entering your recipe, quick tip, or sweepstakes submission, you'll receive a coupon for a free Mason Jar dessert.  (Mason Jar desserts are available in 10 different flavors including: Cherry Crumble, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Brownie, and Salted Caramel Cheesecake--yum!).  Here are the Official Rules.  

If you'd like to stay up to date on all the offerings Private Selection has, be sure to Like Private Selection® on Facebook and Follow Private Selection® on Pinterest.

Giveaway Disclaimer:  NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Offered only to legal residents of the 50 U.S. including D.C. (except FL, NY, RI, AK and HI), 18 or older. Void in and to residents of FL, NY, RI, AK and HI, and where prohibited by law. Participants must have a participating Kroger Shopper Card which may be obtained without cost. Begins on or about 9:00 a.m. ET April 28, 2014 and ends on or about 8:59 p.m. ET June 6, 2014. Limit 1 entry per person/Shopper Card account/household per day, across all banners. Limit 30 total Sweepstakes entries per person/Shopper Card account/household during the Promotion Period. For prize details, odds of winning, and limitations, see complete Official Rules.

Bite-sized Cheesecake Brownies

The perfect sized two-bite brownie...and cheesecake! No more deciding between your two favorite desserts with this decadent combination!

I love baking for other people.  One reason is that I like to try new things, and I love to see other people's reactions when they eat them.  You could say food is my love language.  Another reason is because baking for others gives me the chance to bake, but not to have to eat everything I make.  I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it!

Every couple weeks, Mike and I get together with some of our friends from church for our life group.  We rotate who hosts the gathering and take turns providing the main meal, salad, and dessert.  I often volunteer to bring dessert because it's my favorite thing to make!

Recently it was my turn to bring dessert and I was craving brownies.  I'd brought Cookie Dough Brownies before and while those sounded good, I wanted to make something different.  I came across a recipe for Cheesecake Brownies and I knew that was the perfect dessert!  It's always nice to have something that isn't messy to eat since we are usually eating on the couch or floor.

These Bite-sized Cheesecake Brownies are incredibly easy to make!  I "cheated" and used a boxed brownie mix because I didn't have a lot of time, and let's face it, they're pretty delicious.  The cheesecake mixture came together quickly and within minutes, my brownies were in the oven.  I was able to mix, bake, cool, and photograph these brownies all while Summer was napping.  That's a win in my book!

I had to sample a few brownies of course while I was photographing them.  I won't tell you how many I tried...  I came home with an empty tray that night--a sure sign of a delicious dessert!

Bite-sized Cheesecake Brownies

Makes 24-30 brownie bites

Ingredients:
1 boxed brownie mix, plus ingredients to make it
8 ounces cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks

1.  Mix brownie mix according to the box's directions.

2.  Beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks until fluffy.

3.  Scoop 1 Tablespoon of brownie batter into greased mini muffin tins.

4.  Top brownie batter with 1 teaspoon of cheesecake mixture.

5.  Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a brownie comes out clean.

Allow brownies to cool at least 10 minutes before removing from the tin.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge.

Adapted from: Annie's Noms

Cheeseburger Pizza

Cheeseburgers for dinner tonight, or pizza? Both sound good, but why decide between the two? You can have both with this Cheeseburger Pizza!

Do you get coupon booklets in the mail?  I love when we do because they save us money, but also because sometimes they introduce me to new foods or restaurants.  Many times Mike and I have tried something new because we had a coupon for it!

We recently received some coupons for a pizza joint.  I set the coupons aside, not because I wanted to go there, but because the picture of their newest pizza caught my attention.  It was a cheeseburger pizza!  Genius, right?  I've had a variety of uncommon pizzas: BLT Pizza, Jerk Chicken Pizza and Breakfast Pizza  to name a few, but the concept of a cheeseburger pizza never occurred to me.

Saturday nights are typically our pizza nights, so I decided to branch out and try my take on the cheeseburger pizza.  I used some creamy Velveeta and mixed it with cooked ground beef to make a delicious sauce.  I put that on my favorite pizza crust and then topped it with a layer of mozzarella cheese.  When the pizza came out of the oven I added diced tomatoes and pickles.  I briefly considered adding on some shredded lettuce but opted against it because warm lettuce didn't sound appetizing.  You could add virtually any toppings you enjoy on burgers or pizza!

Cheeseburger Pizza

Makes 1 large pizza, approximately 8 slices

Ingredients:
Pizza dough
1 lb ground beef
1 lb Velveeta
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup diced pickles
1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1.  Roll out or press pizza dough onto a greased pizza pan (or pizza stone).

2.  Cook ground beef in a large skillet until browned.  Drain grease.

3.  Cube the Velveeta cheese and add it to the skillet with the beef.  Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted.

4.  Spread the meat and cheese mixture on top of the pizza dough.

5.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

6.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until pizza dough is cooked through in the center and the edges are golden.

7.  Top warm pizza with diced pickles and tomatoes.  Serve warm.

Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars

These Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars are a delicious on-the-go snack. They're full of protein to keep you going all morning long!

What a week!  I apologize for the sporadic posts here this week.  Our internet has been acting wonky.  It works well during the day, but for some reason at night it doesn't seem to work.  Of course, I do most of my blog writing at night, and when I can't get on to schedule posts I am stuck!  We're working on figuring out a solution: buying a new router or switching internet providers.  In the meantime, I'll post as often as I can get the internet to work.

To add to the stress of the week, Summer has been teething and it's causing her to not act like herself.  She's incredibly clingy and somewhat irritable.  Definitely not my typically happy baby.  I can see her right incisor showing through the top of her gum, but it has yet to poke through.  In the meantime, I'm giving her lots of teething toys, teething tablets, and plently of cuddles.  It's hard to be a baby...

While I'm dealing with all the stressors of life (did I mention my car wouldn't start yesterday morning?), I don't have time or energy to make healthy food choices.  I turn to quick freezer meals for lunch, cookies for snack, and fast food for dinner.  Since I know that isn't good for me, I'm trying to be intentional about making healthier choices.

One of the ways I've been successful is by creating this homemade version of one of my favorite granola bars.  I've been hooked since I bought my first box a few months back and I eat a granola bar every day for my morning snack.  One day I decided that I could probably make my own granola bar and it would be healthier and tastier than the one I was buying.  I whipped up this batch during nap time (though it was easy enough, I could have done it while Summer was playing) and I was impressed by the taste of them.  I haven'te done a calorie comparision between these homemade bars and the storebought ones, but I know the ingredients in these bars are much better for me!  Mike and my dad also gave these bars two thumbs up, so I know they're a winner!

Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars

Makes 1 9x13" pan

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 cup peanuts
1 cup oats
2 cups cheerios
3/4 cup peanut butter
3 Tablespoons coconut oil

1.  In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter and agave nectar.  Microwave for 30 seconds to melt peanut butter and then stir until smooth.

2.  Add the peanuts, oats, and cheerios and stir until coated.

3.  Press mixture into a greased 9x13" pan.

4.  In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter an coconut oil.  Microwave for 30 seconds and then additional 10 second increments until the coconut oil is melted.  Stir until smooth.

5.  Use a spatula to spread the peanut butter mixture over the bars.

6.  Refrigerate until the topping is set, then cut into bars and serve.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge to prevent topping from melting.