Kids in the Kitchen: Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

The variations on Rice Krispies Treats are possibly innumerable.  And they have been a favorite treat of kids for generations.  They can be made with any cereal, toppings and mix-ins galore, and can be shaped into whatever the heart desires. And the recipe is so simple that our toddler can do them with close supervision.

Surprisingly, I don’t remember eating one, much less making one until I was in high school.  I made them with a friend at a friend’s house for a bake sale (still didn’t eat one, that I can remember).  But I feel the concept of a sweet, sticky cereal bar is perfect for kids.  And I figured it would be a travesty to let our little ones reach adolescence without having made and tried one.  Plus, my husband actually likes cereal bar treats, even though he is not much on desserts.

As I said, I don’t have a lot of experience with cereal bar treats, so I tried to come up with something everyone in our little family would like and I settled on a peanut butter variation.  And the results were very tasty!

Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Here’s what we did:

We got all the ingredients together. I measured them into larger containers and then got out a big plastic bowl, just the right size for toddler mixing.

Our microwave is above the stove, so I put the bowls into the microwave and lifted G up so she could “see” what was going on in there.  Once the butter was melted, we poured it over the marshmallows and stirred to coat the marshmallows.  Then the bowl went back into the microwave to melt the marshmallows.

We set the big mixing bowl on the kitchen floor to make it easy for her to mix the ingredients.  Once the marshmallows were melted, G poured in the cereal (we used plain Cheerios) and the peanut butter chips into the marshmallow mixture and stirred (and stirred).

Once all the Cheerios were coated and the peanut butter chips had melted, we poured the whole mixture into a buttered pan.  We put waxed paper over the top and pressed down with our fingers to flatten the mixture into the pan.

We let them cool for a little bit and then cut them into bars.  We just got one picture of the finished product because they got eaten so quickly!

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter (melted)
• 4 c. marshmallows (we used the mini ones)
• 6 c. cereal (we used Cheerios)
• 1 c. peanut butter chips

Procedure:

Melt butter in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Pour over the marshmallows and stir to coat.

Melt marshmallows in microwave-safe bowl for about 45 seconds.  Stir, and repeat.

Add cereal and peanut butter chips to marshmallow mixture and stir very well.

Pour mixture into a buttered 9 x 11 pan and press down with wax paper.

Allow time to cool.  Then cut into squares or bars.

So, so yummy!  Do you make cereal bars with your kids?  What do you do to make them special?

This post shared at: Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons