Here’s a recipe we love that uses up the last dregs of peanut butter in the jar and of cereal in the box.
You know… how everyone eats up most of the container and then leaves that little bit that no one ever seems to finally finish off? I feel you sisters.
I prefer not to throw out good food. So when the peanut butter is nearly gone, I scrape down the jar with a rubber spatula. And when open cereal gets a little stale, I toast it (remove any raisins or other fruit, etc. during the toasting).
And I make these cereal bars with the last bits of unwanted scraps (with a little supplementing). Actually you can toast the cereal and eat it as cereal if you want, but then I wouldn’t have the excuse to make these.
The family LOVES this recipe. (Just made a batch this morning in fact.) You can mix nuts and other things in too, so this is a basic, bare-bones recipe that is customizable too. And of course you don’t have to use stale cereal.
You don’t have to toast the cereal either, but we do think it tastes better since it soaks up the gooey liquid. The crisper to start the better.
7 cups toasted cereal (oatmeal, corn/bran flakes, granola, crispy rice, oat rings, nearly anything will work)- 1 cup dark corn syrup
(for a maple flavor, use pancake syrup or real maple syrup) - 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate
To toast cereal, spread 2-3 cups in single layer on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes (watch it closely) under broiler. Don’t toast raisins or fruit. (The second batch of cereal toasts much faster than the first, and ovens vary, so watching is key.)
Grease bottom and edges of a 13×18 pan with spray or a finger dipped in grapeseed oil. Combine sugar and corn syrup in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Fold in toasted cereal mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour mix into the greased pan. Use WET hands to press the mix into the pan evenly. Cool at room temperature or stick in the fridge. Cut into bars or tear into bites if you can’t wait. (Pizza cutter works great!) Store in an airtight container.
🙂 You may share my recipe as long as you include my name (Julia M. Chambers) and a link to my blog and/or this post. 🙂
Happy back to school y’all!
Go ahead and click a link below to “share this.” You know you want to! : )
Crochet Liberation Front:
Aberrant Crochet (TM) 