Easy Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
It takes 5 minutes tops to make these Easy Peanut Butter Cereal Bars. Oh, and only 4 ingredients. There’s no reason you can’t have these waiting for the kids when they get home from school.
I received samples from Sweets & Treats Boutique for this #BacktoSchoolTreats week recipe. All opinions are mine alone.
When I think of after school treats, I think of those marshmallow treats. Actually, I don’t think of the popular version. Now, I’m not quite sure when that krispie version came into being, but I hazard a guess it was later in my life? I could be wrong on this and probably should look it up.
Okay, so way older than I thought. I just don’t remember having them growing up. Invented in 1939 for the Campfire Girls, they were and adaptation of on a puffed rice brittle published in 1916. I find that totally interesting. We are constantly adapting recipes in one way shape or form. A few years later, Kellogg’s decided to publish the recipe on the back of the box and the rest is history.
Now, when I was a wee little hoor in kindergarten, we made the most delicious little, no bake wreath cookies. We made those with corn flakes, marshmallows, peanut butter, maybe some powered sugar, and the red hots for the berries on the wreaths. We even put green food dye to make them green. They were wreaths you know.
Ever since then I’ve can’t resist anything with cereal, marshmallows, and peanut butter in them. And since I relate these types of treats with school, I thought they were be perfect for #BacktoSchoolTreats! You follow me, right?
Now, I initially was going to make them fruit flavored. Using like fruity pebbles or something like that. But I’m doing fruit cereal for the macaron. Yes. I said fruit cereal macaron. I can’t wait to share those with you.
Anyway, I opted for this delicious peanut butter and chocolate Cheerios. Because next to Honeycomb and Sugar Pops, Cheerios are my third favorite. I remember when the fruit Cheerios came out. I was dating the hubs at the time and he would purchase some just so we could have the same cereal for breakfast. I always put a banana in my mine for added fiber. He didn’t do that. And when I came to visit, there was always a box for me and some bananas to have for breakfast while I was there.
Yes, he is still that thoughtful! He bought me a new lunchbox for work the other day because mine was getting dingy and gross. I didn’t ask. He saw it on the counter in a vain attempt to clean it. It just got moldy instead. So, he bought me one that has a waterproof lining! Love that man!
So, back to the Cheerios. I initially planned on putting extra peanut butter in these, but oh my word those Cheerios don’t need the extra peanut butter. They’re plenty peanut buttery on their own. And I would hazard a guess that you don’t need extra chocolate either. It would make them WAY too sweet. They were perfect with just the right amount of chocolate and peanut butter flavor without any extra ingredients. Just the Cheerios.
I really should back that up. INITIALLY I was going for fruit cereal. But that’s too common. And maybe Cheerios are to common, but they have such a range of flavors they’re an easy target for cereal bars. There’s honey nut, apple cinnamon, fruit, frosted, peach, berries, clusters, berry, chocolate, banana nut, and there’s even pumpkin spice. Seriously, what other cereal has as many flavors as Cheerios does?
Okay, this is not a sponsored post for Cheerios. Honestly.
This is a sponsored post for Sweets & Treats Boutique. You see those adorable little sprinkles in there? You know, the ABCs and 123s and all the letters and numbers in between? Those are from the ABC 123 sprinkle mix from Sweets & Treats Boutique.
I love their products. There’s such a large range of them from the tulip quins I put in the lavender macaron to the fun seahorses I put on the orange Julius popsicles. You can pretty much find anything you could want on their site. And they have paper products, too! There’s wrappers and straws and baggies galore!
Granted I haven’t ordered any of those. I don’t really contemplate wrappers when I’m thinking of something to bake or make for these events. I really should go the full Monty and order something to display them on, too. I’m sure they’ll be a sponsor for another event. So, I know I’ll have a chance to do so. And if not, I’ll just order it out right! Their products are reasonably priced and top quality!
Now, I cannot express enough how easy these suckers are to make. It literally took me all of 5 minutes to make. I measured out the cereal and popped open the bag of marshmallows. I grabbed the butter out of the fridge and a microwave safe container. I used the 6 cup Pyrex container we have. I knew the marshmallows would need room to go in with the butter. And then I heated the butter. Once that was bubbling, I added the marshmallows. They took about a minute and a half to melt.
Once everything melted, I poured it over the cereal and stirred it all together. Then I tossed in the sprinkles, stirred again, and spread it into the pan. It took me longer to do the dishes after cooking them than it did to make them.
So, there is literally NO EXCUSE for you not to make these for your kids.
Big or little alike, it doesn’t matter. The hubs loves a good cereal bar as much as any kindergartener. I keep meaning to make krispie treats with the Peeps we got for the spring sweets event we had. But, it’s on the back burner. I mean, the marshmallows don’t have to be the most fresh things on the shelf. You’re going to melt them!
The cereal on the other hand shouldn’t be from like last month. That should be fresh. So I have a fresh box of the store version of that krispie cereal in the pantry for that one day I remember to make them.
I’ve told you my brain is a sieve, right? I’m not kidding on that one. My memory isn’t the greatest and never has been. That’s why I write recipes like this one down in my calendar and my Wunderlist ideas tab. I love Wunderlist. You should try it! It can sync ALL your devices and computers. No matter where you are. I love that ap!
No, this is not a sponsored post for Wunderlist, either.
I hope you check out Sweets & Treats Boutique. They really do have some great sprinkles, quins, wrappers, bags; you name it. And make sure to enter the giveaway! You could win one of 5 prizes including one from Sweets & Treats Boutique.
Easy Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
It takes 5 minutes tops to make these Easy Peanut Butter
Cereal Bars. Oh, and only 4 ingredients. There’s no reason you can’t
have these waiting for the kids when they get home from school.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 10 ounces marshmallows (I used the minis, but you can use any you want.)
- 6 cups peanut butter Cheerios (or other Cheerios or cereal of choice)
- 1/2 cup Sweets & Treats Boutique Quin Sprinkles ABC 123
Instructions
- Place the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high 30 to 45 seconds until melted.
- Add the marshmallows and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the marshmallows are melted and smooth.
- Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and stir to combine.
- Fold in the alphabet quins.
- Press into a 9 x 10 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cool completely.
- Slice and serve. Store in an airtight container 2 to 3 days, if they last that long.
Check out these #BacktoSchoolTreats recipes from our Bloggers:
Back to School Breakfasts:
Easy Breakfast Quesadillas from Simple and Savory
Orange Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce from Love and Confections
S’mores Breakfast Pastries from Family Around the Table
Back to School Snacks:
Carrot Cake Energy Balls from Frugal & Fit
No-Bake Caramel & Toffee Rice Crispy Treats from Hardly A Goddess
Unicorn Poop Snack Mix from The Beard and The Baker
Vanilla Bean Frozen Yogurt Drops from Tara’s Multicultural Table
Back to School Desserts:
Brownie Cookies with Mascarpone Frosting from My Sweet Zepol
Chocolate Dipped ABC 123 Chocolate Chip Cookies from Big Bear’s Wife
Easy Peanut Butter Cereal Bars from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Maple No Bake Oatmeal Cookies from Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
School Colors Cupcakes from The Redhead Baker
Streusel Coffee Cake from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Back to School Drinks:
Apple, Vanilla Bean, and Caramel Smoothie from Our Good Life
Caramel Apple Chai Latte from Comfortably Domestic
Caramel Apple Smoothie from Home Sweet Homestead
Hot Caramel Apple Cream from Daily Recipes
Pre Workout Caramel Apple Smoothie from A Day in the Life on the Farm
All week 30 bloggers will be sharing over 100 fantastic recipes for both parents and kids, with breakfasts, snacks, desserts, and drinks to get you back in the school routine. Thank you sponsors for providing the prize packages. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!
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These look like a fun back to school treat!
They were SO GOOD! And packed with flavor thanks to the cereal.
I used to make this for my kids when they were little, minus the sprinkles, and they loved it just as much as the rice cereal version!
Right? Who needs those krispies. Just use any cereal in these bars.
I love the peanutbutter choice! After all that cereal talk, I can’t think of a better one!
That cereal was delicious. I’m totally making them again.
I grew up making those little wreath cookies for as far back as I can remember! I like that you use heartier cereals in these cereal bars.
I’m a total Cheerios fan. It’s my go to cereal for most things.
Oooh, I love that you made these with peanut butter cheerios! Such a great use of the ABC sprinkles.
That cereal is DA BOMB! I could eat it as a snack all on it’s own.
How fun! I can think of so many ways to enjoy them, but mainly with a cold glass of milk.
Definitely! I snacked on them for an afternoon pick me up at work.
Those alphabet sprinkles are perfect for back to school.
Right? Super cute.