These bars are my heaven.
They’re everything I want in a bar. I had to hide them from myself.
There’s something about supremely chewy, thick, and dense cereal bars that I just go for. I always have.
They’re no-bake and come together in the microwave in less than 5 minutes. So fast and easy to make and no need to heat up the house with a hot oven.
They’re vegan and gluten-free. There’s no butter or flour, but you’d never guess it because they’re exceedingly buttery-tasting and rich.
There’s an abundance of peanut butter and chocolate. Always a win.
The chocolate layer stays softer, fudgier, and isn’t prone to cracking or setting up too hard, courtesy of a couple tablespoons of shortening.
It’s a little trick I’ve learned.
They remind me of my beloved Special K Bars, my grandma’s recipe, which I included it in my cookbook because I love them so much. That recipe makes a bigger pan and involves a bit of stovetop cooking, whereas just two minutes in the microwave is all you need here to melt together peanut butter and sugars.
The saucy mixture then drenches cereal in a sweet, brown sugary, caramel-vanilla heaven. I used tablespoon of homemade vanilla extract just to be sure it was noticeable.
The bars are loaded with chewy texture from the cereal and are soft, but they still hold their shape and don’t turn into a gooey mess.
They’re sort of a cousin to Rice Krispies Treats, replacing marshmallows with peanut butter. And you could likely use crushed Frosted Flakes or Corn Flakes. I have a Frosted Flakes Bar recipe in my cookbook because yes, I love cereal bars.
If you need a last minute dessert that takes just minutes to make, try these. Especially if you need them for an event where vegan or gluten-free options may be welcome.
Let’s pretend that because they’re vegan and gluten-free that they’re healthy and we can eat half the pan in a sitting.
I loved these. They’re one of my favorite bars I’ve made in 2013.
My husband also loved them. He’s sort of immune to all sweets and treats I make, but these were keepers for him, too.
The only person who didn’t go crazy with them was my 6 year old. She’s missing her two front teeth and chomping is difficult. She’s been enjoying No-Ice-Cream-Maker Funfetti Cake Batter Golden Oreo Ice Cream instead.
I proudly claim those chomp marks as my doing.
Pin This Recipe
Chewy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Bars
These are my definition of the perfect bar. Soft, extra chewy, rich, dense, peanut buttery, smothered in chocolate with more peanut butter swirled in. There’s no butter or flour used, and they’re vegan and gluten-free. They-re no-bake and made in the microwave in minutes. If you need a quick and easy dessert that looks and tastes more complicated than it really is, I highly recommend these.
Ingredients
Bars
- 1 heaping cup creamy peanut butter (use Jif, Skippy, or similar; do not use natural or homemade peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup (light colored, not lite)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups Rice Krispies cereal (or similar crispy rice cereal that’s vegan/GF)
Chocolate Topping
- 1 1/2 heaping cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, optional but highly recommended to keep chocolate smooth; see below
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, melted
Instructions
- For the Bars – Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 heaping cup peanut butter, corn syrup, sugars, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt.
- Stop to stir. Mixture will be on the granular side, this is okay.
- Return bowl to microwave and heat for 1 more minute on high power.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Stir in the cereal.
- Turn mixture out into prepared pan, packing it down somewhat firmly with a spatula and smoothing the top; set pan aside.
- For the Chocolate Topping – In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, shortening, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt. I highly recommend using shortening for many reasons. It helps the chocolate melt smoother and easier. It prevents the chocolate from setting up too quickly. It keeps the chocolate from cracking when you slice into the finished bars because the chocolate is fudgier and more forgiving than typical hardened chocolate.
- Stop to stir. Chips may not be completely melted. Return bowl to microwave and heat in 10 to 15-second bursts until chocolate can be stirred smooth.
- Pour chocolate over bars, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula or knife; set pan aside.
- Add 1/4 cup peanut butter to a small microwave-safe bowl and heat to melt, about 30 seconds. Stir peanut butter smooth.
- To create the marbled pattern, drizzle peanut butter over the chocolate in 5 wide, evenly spaced, parallel lines, each spanning the width of the pan. Like 5 rows of long train tracks.
- Rotate pan 90-degrees. With a toothpick, starting at the top of the pan, “draw” 5 evenly spaced lines through the peanut butter. In essence you’re dragging the toothpick perpendicularly through the first set of lines to create the marbling.
- Cover pan with a sheet of foil (to prevent fridge smells), and place pan in fridge to set up for at least 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, or until chocolate layer is completely set before lifting out with foil overhang, slicing, and serving.
- Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Take care all ingredients used are appropriate for your dietary needs, reading labels and selecting brands that are appropriate.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 401Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 177mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 3gSugar: 38gProtein: 7g
Related Recipes:
Peanut Chewy Payday Bars (almost no-bake)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)
Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars (no-bake)
Caramel and Chocolate Gooey Bars
Double Chocolate Caramel Corn & Cocoa Rice Krispies Candy Bars
Nutella and Peanut Butter Graham Bars with Chocolate Frosting
Browned Butter Rice Krispies Treats – The best RKTs I have ever had. Double the butter and it’s browned, for great flavor and soft, buttery, chewy bars
No-Bake Nutter Butter Special K Bars
Peanut Butter Caramel Twix Bars (almost no-bake)
What’s your favorite no-bake, cereal or cookie bar?
These were great. Your detailed steps helped me make professional looking bars for a gathering. I could eat the whole pan.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad my details helped you make a professional looking dessert!
I’ve made these 3-4 times now and every time they’re delicious! I do cut down on the chocolate topping because otherwise the chocolate layer is too thick and these become too decadent. Keeping the topping thin makes it a lighter treat :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that you’ve found a way to keep it a little lighter :)
Hi there, I always use natural peanutbutter for recipes like this it works fine. I just made these with natural peanutbutter, and used local raw honey instead of the sugars, and organic brown rice cereal. I didn’t use the corn syrup or sugar just the honey worked well as both. I used dark chocolate melted it with coconut oil instead of shortning that also works well. Then I dusted the top off with sea salt looks delish!
Glad natural works great for you as well as the raw local honey and the alternate cereal, too!
Averie, I made these cereal bars last weekend and they were awesome! I blogged about them today:
http://tinaschic.com/2014/11/peanut-butter-and-chocolate-cereal-bars/
I’ve made several of your recipes and you never disappoint. Thank you so much for sharing. :)
Thanks for trying these and so glad you’re pleased with this one and others! That’s awesome to hear :)
Hi,
Just wanted to let you know I am sharing your wonderful recipe tomorrow in my Gluten-Free Recipe RoundUp with a link back to your original post!
Have a terrific weekend!
Cathy from APeekIntoMyParadise.com
Thanks for the linkback!
what happens if you use natural peanut butter?
It may or may not be enough to ‘glue’ the bars together. Natural PB can be oily, thin, and runny – so it’s a gamble.
I just want to thank you for this delicious recipe! The bars are currently chilling in the fridge but from the piece that I tried, they are yummy :) As someone who is going through the first holiday season without gluten/ dairy, I am very excited to find a delicious dessert to enjoy. I always use Enjoy Life chocolate chips (vegan) and they work wonderfully. Thanks again!
Glad you like them and that they work for your needs. It can be hard making big changes like that so glad you have something that will work for you :)
These look wonderful! But Rice Krispies are only GF if you buy the right one made from brown rice. It is very confusing to those who think they are fixing it correctly and then hurting their friends. :)
There are many other brands of GF crispy rice cereal, found in health food stores or in some mainstream groc stores, that are also GF. Anyone who is cooking for others or themself and needs to follow dietary restrictions always needs to read labels – it’s just a fact of life. People should read labels anyway to make sure they know what they’re ingesting!
These are gorgeous, Averie! The peanut butter and chocolate topping makes me want to lick the screen. They are everything I want in a bar too. Dangerous!!
FYI: Nestle and many other semisweet choc chips are not vegan. You have to read labels and the only ones I found were at a natural grocery store.
Could you use heavy cream instead of shortening…sort of like ganache?
Yes you could but it will set up ‘drippier’ and runnier and I didn’t want ganache-like, drippy bars because I wanted them to be portable and well, I just knew what texture I was going for :) But yes, it will work.
Thanks Avery good to know! I rarely bother to change the ingredients of a great recipe, but I was looking to get away from the trans fats if possible.
Your desserts are beautiful and they look delicious. I CANNOT wait to try one of these bar recipes this weekend.
Question for you or any bloggers out there: what are these little wax paper looking squares that I see in dessert food photography? Where can I get them? I tried improvising by manually cutting wax paper, but they don’t look as nice as these ones here. Thanks for your help!
It’s parchment paper that I cut into various shapes – it’s a bit of a pain, but for photos, it does make things look nice :)
Mouth watering!! Oh my, these look dangerous, I don’t know if I’d be able to stop myself ;)
OK, thank you Averie! I love them “as is”… just thought another variation w/o the peanut butter flavor would be fun sometimes too… depending on my mood ;-)
I would just go with a diff bar then for a diff mood. Don’t mess with these – so few ingredients and each and every one counts to make the recipe a success.
These are so good! I actually was in the mood for an “oats” bar, but these caught my attention so I made them using 1/2 oats (toasted b/c I don’t like raw oats) and 1/2 rice krispies. Swirled white chocolate on top instead of peanut butter… only b/c my son loves white chocolate. We just cut into them and they are YUMMY!
I love your creativity with the white choc (I love it too but sometimes my readers don’t love it as much as I do)! And oat bar that’s no bake and along the same lines that you may also like with oats, PB, & chocolate
https://www.averiecooks.com/2011/12/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-oat-squares.html
And this one is a healthier twist on oats
https://www.averiecooks.com/2012/09/cinnamon-oatmeal-date-bars-with-chocolate-chunks.html
This is super gooey and decadent with oats
https://www.averiecooks.com/2012/02/caramel-and-chocolate-gooey-bars.html
I am a HUGE oat bar lover so when you said that, I wanted to throw some of those out there. I have tons more too :) Thanks for telling me you made these!
Averie – We took these with us on vacation & I even ate one for breakfast one morning… with coffee. Made me a happy girl! If I wanted to make this same bar without peanut butter (can you believe how much nerve I have asking you this?!), could I just leave it out or do you think I would need to replace the peanut butter with some butter or whole milk or something so they don’t get dry?
By the way, I appreciate how responsive you are on your blog. Thank you!
Yes you 100% would need to replace the PB with something else! They would be horribly dry, wouldn’t hold together, and will not taste anything like what they taste like now without the PB. And no, milk will not work. Nor will adding butter.
If it’s a PB allergy, you can try Sunflower Seed Butter or Biscoff/Cookie Butter spread. Although I havent tested either.
If it’s just b/c you don’t like the PB and want to make another type of bar, I would say look these over and select something else. https://www.averiecooks.com/category/dessert/bars
My suggestion is to just leave the recipe alone and enjoy it with the PB in it :)
This is the perfect for summer and you know how I love chocolate and peanut butter! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!!
Oh! those swirls!! They just look perfect P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
these blow me away! this is first up in my back to school lunch packing treats!!
Love your website but, chocolate chip aren’t vegan?
Yes, they most definitely are if they are semi-sweet. The only ingredient of consequence is cocoa solids. Chocolate IS vegan. If you combine it with milk for milk choc chips, that’s different. But semi sweet choc chips are most definitely vegan.
Think chunky PB would work? I’m lazy.
More than likely yes – it just won’t be as smooth to stir together but you should be fine in terms of it ‘glueing’ the bars together. LMK how you like them!
Delicious! Worked just fine. Used brown rice cereal too since that’s what I had and you can’t tell. Thanks!
So glad to hear that it worked, as well as brown rice cereal! Yay! Hope you’re enjoying them!
that swirled top…that like totally makes my love for these bars that much more…and i am so with you there is something about cereal bars that I would have to hide from myself as well :-)
I would love to try these, but I’m not so fond of the corn syrup. Can anyone chime in if honey would make an ok substitution?
More than likely it will be fine. LMK if you try it. Obviously won’t be vegan and it will have a different taste than using corn syrup since honey has more flavor, but it will ‘glue’ and bind the bars together fine I would imagine. LMK if you try!
That swirl on top is gorgeous!!
Could I substitute agave for corn syrup and coconut oil for shortening?
Your poor daughter, without the front teeth to enjoy these amazing, chewy, decadent little bars! Tell her I’ll have her share ;)
That top is just GORGEOUS. I don’t eat marshmallows so a lot of rice krispie treat recipes don’t work for me, so I am happy happy happy to see this one uses peanut butter instead! :D
Thank you! And yes, these are vegan-friendly! I bet you’d like them! :)
This looks ridiculously insane. This reminds me that I have to make some :-)
I miss American sweets already and it’s been only a few days since I left. You always know how to seduce us with delicious looking sweets! It’s way too dangerous to keep looking at midnight here. :D
Thanks for pinning and glad you’re seduced…at midnight. That’s my total bewitching hour for PB/chocolate cravings!
And I just started following your pinterest boards. Whoa. You have some gorgeous!! boards! I am drooling over your collections of bars, brownies, and just about everything else :)
Oh, these bars not only sound delish, they’re also sporting a very hip, retro design! (I want an a-line dress with the exact same colours and groovy pattern!) :D
Now that you mention it, groovy pattern is the perfect description for it, you’re right! And I’d love a dress (or a sofa!) in that pattern, too!
And thanks for all the pins, too!
OH MY GAH!!! I want a day alone with these bars. Just me and them. You can hide them from yourself, but please don’t hide them from me!! I’ll have your piece! :-D
LOL. :)
Is there a reason you can’t use a natural PB like Adam’s? Will the bars just be less sweet without the extra sugar that Skippy, Jif, etc. have in them? Dying to try these since I am GF :)
The reason is because natural PBs tend to spread and/or cause things they’re made with to spread. With a recipe like this with no eggs and no flour, the PB is your glue. And I don’t trust natural PBs as my glue – just being totally honest.
Oh my lordy lord. I am going to order your cook book..yum!! my fav ingredients!!
You’re awesome! Thank you! Please LMK what you think of it and what you make and how it goes!
Wowza! These look so delicious. I was laughing when you said you had to hide these from yourself. LOL! Except…did that work? ;-) Your bars are incredible looking and these are no different. How easy that you can just whip these up so quickly and they look like you slaved for hours. Awesome!
Well – let’s just say the avg person could whip them up in minutes but for me with researching them and cross referencing all my old recipes from my blog, cookbook, childhood, etc…that took awhile. And then creating them FOR the camera, the little things I have to do to make them pop, that took a little longer :) But in general, now that the recipe is written and photos taken, every batch I ever make from now on, literally WILL take me 10 mins :)
Wow, wow, wow!! I can’t believe these are vegan and gluten-free, yet SO rich and decadent. And such a lovely pattern on top :)
Thanks, Nora!
Wow, these look amazing!! How do you make them look so perfectly cut? I can never make my bars look so even and uniform. What’s your secret?
I answered that recently for another woman here. Lots of little things to think about but it’s worth it! :)
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/06/homemade-little-debbie-cosmic-brownies.html/comment-page-1#comment-154386
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!! Now these are the perfect bar! They are gorgeous, peanut butter and my heavens I want them, the whole batch! Simply amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness Averie, I can’t stop looking at those pretty swirls, they’re absolutely mesmerizing! I love the sound of everything in these bars :) Simply gorgeous!
Look at all these bars! And I am loving those swirly bars recipe.
Thanks for stopping by, Russell!
Oh girl – those swirls!! They are perfect!! Seriously. Like out of a magazine! I always have trouble making swirls look pretty. A cheesecake bar recipe I’m posting this week has swirls. :) These cereal bars look so, so good. And to say they are one of your favorites for this year – WOW! What a statement coming from you. You know it has to be good if it is a favorite. And no butter used at all. Crazy! Pinning these – they are so pretty and eye-catching, not to mention tempting. Like, I need one now.
It’s one of the best bar recipes I’ve ever made and so easy. I wish I has included them in my cookbook! I put Frosted Flakes Bars in the book but one of those things, that as you grow, evolve, and try new things as a cook (and sometimes thru trials, errors, time, and sometimes just a stroke of luck!) you hit it all on the head in one…these bars were the culmination of years of trying cereal bars, PB + microwave sugar sauces, stovetop sauces, etc. All the years of trials and error all came together on these :) I know that makes cereal bars sound like they’re some amazing thing – but for me, they are. Because I love them so much :) Thanks for pinning!
These look SOOO buttery and sweet and rich and delicious and ohmylord I want them!
oh, my word! averie, your baking is a lover letter to my taste buds. never stop, please?
xx
Lol and thanks! And I won’t stop!
I’ve got everything but shortening, can I use butter instead?
Meh…whenever I melt butter with chocolate, it sets up harder and crisper than I want. I would either say buy some shortening. I know it’s a pain for just a few tbsp but you will have it forever. I have 1 jar that I keep onhand for this very reason. And you can also make these with it :)
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-caramel-twix-bars.html
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/04/chocolate-covered-7-minute-microwave-caramels.html
And so many other things.
If you don’t want to buy it, I would maybe even use a tsp (not a tbsp) of canola oil. Or just use plain melted choc chips. But they won’t have that fudgy mouthfeel.
LMK what you do!
These remind me of a “recipe” I had when I was in middle school. I would melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together and spread it on rice crispy treats. Those swirls on top of the bars are gorgeous!
That sounds like a perfect ‘recipe’. I had a recipe like that for ‘nachos’. I would shred cheese on Doritos and nuke them for 15 secs. It was my afterschool dream snack, combined with making box of (almost raw) boxed brownies :)
Oh good lawd! Loving everything about these, from the artful swirly top of yumminess to the fact that they’re no-bake. Simply droolworthy.
These are something I think you’d love! If you could work in sprinkles though, that would be better knowing your style :)
Your description of these bars has me drooling! And the swirly top – mesmerizing!!! Pinning!
Thank you for pinning! :)
Dude, that marbling swirl is just perfect! My marbling technique is terrible.
And if your 6-year old doesn’t like these, I’d gladly take her serving! :)
She liked them. She just doesn’t have her front teeth so it’s cute watching her sort of gnaw on them with her back teeth :)
I was pleased with the marbling – thanks! Trust me, most times I don’t get that lucky :)
Is there anything better than chocolate and peanut butter? Seriously, I’m drooling looking at these bars and can only imagine the amazing crunch from the cereal!
The texture was so thick and chewy! Loved it!
SO beautiful!!! I love that you piled in as much pb as possible (I think you forgot the word “cup” toward the end of the ingredients there…). I’m pretty sure I’d be licking every bowl and utensil used…and then I’d be oh so thankful that there’s no baking time because I could eat them as quickly as possible!
Fixed! That’s what happens when you use PB twice in a recipe…all that PB and you start forgetting things :) Lol
Oh. My. God. These are absolutely gorgeous! They are literally calling my name! You know me and PB…but then you have the crispiness of the cereal…oh my! (Did I mention I LOVE these?)
I know you would love them! and your KIDS, too!!!
Oh my gosh — that’s swirly perfection!!!
SO pretty! I love anything that has a swirled/marbled effect.
Wow, Averie! I don’t even know where to start with these beauties! First of all, every single picture in this post is just GORGEOUS! And your description of these bars sounds too good to be true! We’ll be making these very soon. xo
Thanks, Ashley! I was happy with the recipe, the pics…things just clicked for me on this one :)
You weren’t kidding – that recipe looks so easy and awesome! I love the flavors and cereal! Can’t wait to try them!
You are a girl after my own heart! Chocolate and peanut butter together is a match made in heaven. Add in no-bake and GF and you’re my hero! xoxo
Thanks, Lisa! Yes, GF and no-bake. So good, too! I don’t know if it’s warm up in N County but it’s pretty chilly in the city so I wouldn’t mind baking, but I know most places are in the 80s and 90sF around the country right now. It’s a cool 68F or so, max, in the city!
Every time rice krispie treats come up in conversation between my mom and I, we get into an argument over what it is. I say it is RK, marshmallows, and butter. She SWEARS it is this recipe! Her version doesn’t have brown sugar and she doesn’t swirl the pb and choc “frosting”, but the same concept.
I’m a fan of both, myself, but let’s call them by their correct names!
I think of RKTreats as classic the marshmallows, butter, cereal
I think of cereal bars as really anything that’s not the above. I.e. they can have PB, chocolate, they can have candy tossed in or any of the garbage-ey pinterest type recipes you see out there. Those are all cereal bars. But if you’re gonna call something a RKT, I do believe it HAS to have marshmallows and be the classic.
I actually went back and forth about WHAT to call these. I almost use the words Crispy or Krispies in the title but didn’t want them to be compared to RKT to used the word cereal. Totally overthought it, actually!
I only realized that I was fantasizing about those bite marks being mine when you “proudly claimed” them. All of a sudden I was upset that I wasn’t already munching on these! They look so good. And I love that they’re vegan and gluten free! Must make soon :)
LOL and thanks, Amanda! LMK how they go for you after you’ve had a chance to make your own bite marks :)
I can’t believe how perfect your swirls look! You need your own line of baked goods :)
Thanks, Jackie. I wish :)
These look like the marriage of rice krispy treats and Reese’s cups! Awesome!
the marriage of rice krispy treats and Reese’s cups = SO TRUE! I love the way your brain works!
That peanut butter swirl is perfection! Love these bars!
These are just gorgeous! That chocolate topping with the peanut butter swirl really fancies these cereal bars up. I’d have to hide them from myself too, because I really go for sticky, chewy, sweet bars like this, too. Well done!
Gorgeous bars, Averie! I love the swirl on top!
Those are absolutely beautiful and definitely something I would love. Chocolate and peanut butter is my weakness! Great job Averie :)
Thanks, Eric!
These look so freaking good. Peanut butter is a very dangerous food for me, I just can’t stop eating it. If I make these I doubt I’d be able to stop eating them either!
These look so delicious, I love that peanut butter swirl and I love that you don’t have to turn on the oven! I want to keep baking but it is just getting way too hot here to have the oven on. Do you think I could replace the shortening with coconut oil?
Yes but it will make it have a slight coconut taste; not everyone is a fan but if you don’t mind, go ahead.
Holy cow – can you have a pregnancy craving for something you’ve never eaten?! Because I’m having one right now! I need these in my life!
Lol – well you’re pregnant and deserve to enjoy PB & Chocolate – that’s for sure! :)
Please don’t ever hide these from me.
You are the queen at description words, I’m hanging on to every sentence waiting for the next as I can’t stop reading about these cereal bars. So great. I have all the ingredients, how dangerous will these be?
Thanks Averie!
Glad you enjoy the writing and I have you hanging on every word :)
That swirl is perfect! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! And these are kind of like muddy buddies in a bar, only waaaay more pretty. I think these would be my new favorite bars as well. Total health food, right? :)
Sort of like Muddy Buddies, yes; minus the powdered sugar but these are just more….satisfying! :)
Okay, WHAT?! These look way too delicious to be so easy, vegan and GF! Incredible! P.S. You are an expert at that gorgeous swirl on top! Mine always looks… well, less than expert… ;)
Thanks for the compliments :) Practice makes perfect…lol I
I can’t get enough of cereal bars with that pb corn syrup combo. They are way too easy to make and just taste soooo good! The swirl on top is beautiful!
Thanks, Laura. I liked staring at it while devouring them.
Perfect, I was planning on making some type of bar today to take with me baby-sitting! I’m LOVING the designs on top of each bar, they’re like little works of art :)
If you make them, please LMK!
I can see why these are your favorite bar from this year! What an absolute treat!! Love that they’re no bake. I’m a sucker for cereal bars too :)
That Nutella in your oatmeal sounds pretty good too :)
These are so fun Averie! Love that neato swirl on top!
Every once in awhile, things work out better than anticipated :)
Delicious and they look so pretty too!
I love the swirls on top of these bars! So pretty! I’d be afraid to cut into them and mess up the swirls… Buuuut, I think I could make the sacrifice. ;)
The nice thing is that it sets up solid enough to not even mess it up. It’s set without being firm; just enough to slice and not make a mess!
I guess the only no bake cereal bar I’ve ever made was the rice krispie treats. Not very creative but man those suckers are addicting! I love the simplicity of these. Super easy – great to take to a pot luck!
Total pot luck food! Easy, portable, everyone loves it kind of thing!
That is a stunning choc PB topping Averie–I love the marbling!! It’s hitting the 90’s here so no bake anything is welcome. I am always amazed at how many yummy treats can be created with cereal–rice krispies squares are the predominant memory from my childhood. These remind me of my younger sister’s favorite Reese’s bars when she was in high school. Funny how food can take you so far back in time. Anyway, I think these are a classic keeper!
Cereal/nobake bars…if I could make a living posting JUST them, I would love to. I don’t know if everyone loves them as much as I do, so I try to mix it up. And 90s. Wow. It’s like 65F and chilly in San Diego (people always think it’s ‘hot’ here; it’s not. Coastal wind, coastal climate effects..and I wear coats and layers when I run!)
I’m almost thinking I should hide this post from myself before I can’t control myself and end up baking/eating the whole tray! super.
I had to kind them from myself and give them to my hubs/child or I would have eaten the whole pan! :) And I saw your last recipe on FG when I was submitting these….looked delish!
These are everything I want in in bar too! Seriously maybe my perfect bar! How on earth did you do that perfect swirl? I swear every time I try to swirl something it ends up just blending in with everything else. Yours looks SO GOOD!
I described the swirl technique in the recipe section :) Glad you like it! And they were totally my perfect bars. Sniff that they’re gone now.
The swirl is GORGEOUS! Cant wait to try these.
Peanut butter and chocolate is my all time favorite combination! I just had to give up those regular peanut butter cups because they contained milk and palm oil – yikes! These sound SO much better!
Hope you enjoy these!