Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars
Cheerios have grown up! They are no longer reserved just for the kids’ breakfast. Mixed with peanut butter and honey and drizzled with quality dark chocolate, they are now the ultimate crispy snack that kids and adults alike will love.
Cheerios were introduced to the world 80 years ago. Since then, Cheerios have been an unavoidable part of our lives. They are usually served for breakfast with cold milk, and some like to offer them as a snack.
The initial flavor was just plain oats, available today, but since then, many were added. Blueberry Cheerios, maple-flavored Cheerios, honey-flavored, chocolate, pumpkin spice and many others, with some limited editions too.
People have found a way to use Cheerios in so many ways such as chocolate Cheerios covered strawberries, trail mixes, and of course Cheerios bars.
Today, I am sharing my easy peanut butter cheerios bars, with only four ingredients. They are a delicious snack packed with flavor and an amazingly crunchy texture.
Choosing The Peanut Butter
Peanut butter is a staple of American cuisine. It comes in many different varieties: sugar-free, smooth, chunky, regular, and natural.
- Regular peanut butter is available in many brands; the amount of partially hydrogenated oil and sugar varies between brands, but these versions always have added sugar and oil. The regular versions also have preservatives in them, so they do not have to be refrigerated after opening in most cases.
- Natural peanut butter is made of only ground peanuts, without any sugar, oil, or preservatives. These are great if you do not mind the separation part, where oil tends to separate from the solids. This is not a big issue, but before every use, you will have to stir your peanut butter thoroughly.
- Organic peanut butter is usually made without sugar and usually from peanuts that are grown free from pesticides. These versions are usually more expensive than the plain peanut butter.
Speaking about style, peanut butter comes in two versions; smooth or chunky. Chunky or crunchy versions have some finely chopped peanuts in them. Smooth peanut butter has no chopped peanuts and is also known as creamy peanut butter.
For this recipe, I went with classic unsweetened and smooth peanut butter. The recipe has honey and Honey Nut Cheerios, so adding the peanut butter with sugar may result in bars that are more on the sweet side.
I love balanced flavors, but if you are a sweet tooth, then use classic peanut butter.
Choosing The Right Cheerios
For this recipe, I used Honey-flavored cheerios. If you want to try some other flavor, I recommend plain original Cheerios, chocolate, almond oat Cheerios, or pumpkin Cheerios.
Can I Use A Different Nut Butter?
I have made these successfully with the almond butter instead of peanut butter. I did not try any other types of nut butter, but I am sure they will work. I suggest hazelnut butter or pistachio nut butter.
Making Cheerio Bars (Overview)
Cheerios bars are easy to make. You will only need four ingredients and a bit of your time. The best way to soak up and really coat Cheerios is with the mixture of melted honey and peanut butter.
Combine honey and peanut butter in a sauce pot and heat on low heat until melted. Then pour the mixture over Cheerios and stir them up to coat evenly.
You will have to heat these two ingredients as they will become runnier and therefore coat the Cheerios better.
My Tips:
- To make the Cheerio bars more interesting, you can add in some mini marshmallows. Melt the marshmallows with the peanut butter and honey, over low heat.
- Cheerio bars are very sticky to work with, so when pressing these into the pan, they may stick to your spoon or spatula. I like to wet my fingers and press them with them.
- Cheerio bars also work wonderfully with any kind of chocolate. You can drizzle chocolate on top, or chop up some Snickers bar and combine with the Cheerios.
Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars
Preparation time: 1 hour
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
- 2 oz quality dark chocolate
Instructions
1. Line 9-inch pan with baking paper or a plastic foil.
2. In a sauce pot, combine peanut butter and honey. Melt the ingredients over low heat until completely smooth and runny.
3. Place the Cheerios in a large bowl and pour over the peanut butter mixture.
4. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated and combined.
5. Transfer the mixture into the baking pan and press down with wet fingers.
6. Melt the chocolate in a microwave, 30-second intervals, and drizzle it over the Cheerios.
7. Chill in the freezer for 1 hour.
9. Cut the chilled mixture into 12 bars.
8. Serve as desired and store in a fridge.
Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars
In this recipe, we'll show you how to make peanut butter cheerio bars for a quick and easy sweet snack!
Ingredients
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
- 2 oz quality dark chocolate
Instructions
- Line 9-inch pan with baking paper or a plastic foil.
- In a sauce pot, combine peanut butter and honey. Melt the ingredients over low heat until completely smooth and runny.
- Place the Cheerios in a large bowl and pour over the peanut butter mixture.
- Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated and combined.
- Transfer the mixture into the baking pan and press down with wet fingers.
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave, 30-second intervals, and drizzle it over the Cheerios.
- Chill in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Cut the chilled mixture into 12 bars.
- Serve as desired and store in a fridge.
Related Articles
Can You Freeze Cereal? – Everything You Need To Know
