By Halloween in Southie is a neighborhood production that requires no organizing committee because everyone just knows their role. The parents stand on the stoops and the kids go door to door and someone always puts out a full-size candy bar and becomes a legend, and someone always turns their lights off at six-thirty and becomes the other kind of legend. The whole thing runs on pure collective tradition that doesn't need instructions because everyone grew up doing it this way.
I wasn't working, so I sat on the Donovan stoop with Maureen to hand out candy. Maureen does full-size Snickers bars because she says if you're going to do a thing you should do it properly, and Sean Sr. stands in the doorway and comments on every costume with the evaluative interest of a man who has nothing invested in costume quality but finds it genuinely interesting anyway. There was a very good dinosaur this year. Sean Sr. said, "That's a good one." Coming from Sean Sr., this is a rave review.
Patrick's kids came by around seven, and I helped the older one fix his vampire cape, which had lost its fastener. Patrick stood at the bottom of the steps looking up at us and something happened on his face that was not quite an emotion because he's Patrick and Donovans don't emote visibly, but it was the face of a man very glad to be standing in this specific place with these specific people. I took a photo of him without telling him. He would hate it. I'm keeping it forever.
Sean D. came by around eight after visiting his mother in Dorchester and we walked the neighborhood for an hour. We bought hot cider from the cart on Broadway. I made caramel apples at home later — the real kind with actual caramel cooked to temperature, rolled in chopped peanuts. They were messy and impractical and perfect and we ate them over the sink at eleven PM like adults who have earned their candy.
The caramel apples were already a done thing — messy and absolutely worth it — but if you want something you can make ahead and have waiting in the fridge for when people drift back in from the cold, these No Bake Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars are it. They’ve got that same salty-sweet peanut thing going on that made the caramel apples so good, and the fact that they require no oven means you can throw them together while the cider is still warm in your mug. Sean D. would eat four of them and deny it. I’m making them every Halloween from here on out.
No Bake Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Prep your pan. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the rolled oats, cocoa powder, and salt until evenly combined.
- Melt the wet ingredients. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil. Stir continuously until smooth and fully melted together, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Mix everything together. Pour the warm peanut butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir well until every oat is coated. Fold in half of the chocolate chips (1/4 cup).
- Press into the pan. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Using the back of a spoon or a sheet of parchment, press it down firmly into an even, compact layer — this is key for bars that hold their shape.
- Add toppings. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips and the chopped peanuts (if using) over the top, pressing them gently into the surface.
- Chill until set. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until firm. Lift out using the parchment overhang and cut into 16 bars on a cutting board.
- Store. Keep bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or freeze individually wrapped for up to 2 months.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 215 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 85mg