Crispy Peanut Butter Bars
What to call these bars? I guess you could call these Rice Krispy Bars but since I don’t use actual Rice Krispies or marshmallows that doesn’t seem quite right. They are smiliar to what some call “Scotcheroos” but there is no white sugar or corn syrup so that doesn’t seem right either.
In my recipe binder I actually have a sheet of paper with a recipe for “Luna Bars” printed on the top half and one for “Rice Cereal Treats” at the bottom. It took me longer than it should have to realize that the two recipes were exactly the same! It also took me longer than it should have to realize that those versions, though simple and delicious, weren’t quite simple and delicious enough for me.
I have slowly abandoned those recipes and become partial to my own own super-simple, naturally-sweetened, five ingredients version of Luna Bars/Rice Cereal Treats/Scotcheroos or whatever you want to call them.
Things to love about these bars:
Easy to make and no bake. That means you can go from “let’s make these” to eating in no time flat.
If you eat them right away they can be gooey and gooey can be fun. See my post Cholocate Covered Grace that features these bars smeared all over my boys’ faces.
Kids can make them. That means more yumminess with less work for me and I’m all for that.
Don’t forget to add some oomph:
There is really no hard step to this recipe but you do want to make sure that you smash the bars down in the pan really well to allow the stick of the peanute butter and honey to do its job thus avoiding crumbliness. I like to use the back of a flat turner or spatula. You could also use a piece of wax paper and press with your hand.
A note about ingredients:
Sweetener: I choose to use honey but other sticky sweeteners (agave syrup, sorghum, brown rice syrup, etc.) would probably do the trick.
Peanut Butter: I use organic, natural peanut butter but other nut butters could be used instead.
Rice Cereal: You could use any kind of crispy rice cereal in this recipe. I use an organic, naturally-sweetened, crispy brown rice option, but plain old Rice Krispies would of course work fine. I don’t recommend puffed rice. They do not keep their crisp and the end result is a little mushy.
Crispy Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 c peanut butter (or other nut butter)
- 1/2 c honey
- 1/2 t salt
- 3 c of crispy rice cereal of your choice
- 1/2 c - 3/4 c chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix peanut butter and honey in a large sauce pan.
- Cook on low heat, stirring until peanut butter and honey are well combined and smooth. Remove from heat.
- Stir in salt and rice cereal until well combined.
- Use your hands covered with wax paper or the back of turner to press mixture into an 8x8 pan.
- Melt chocolate chips in microwave or in a double broiler on the stove. Spread over the bars.
- For a softer, gooey bar, serve immediately. To firm it up, put in fridge until chocolate is set. Either way is delicious!
