Peanut Butter, Chocolate, & Cranberry Cereal Bars

I always love easy recipes, especially when I have a thousand other things going on. (Most of the time that's by choice, but that's OK.) I also love recipes that are guaranteed to please those sweet small children in my house.... and their parents.

This is definitely one of those. Easy (hello, no bake!), tasty, sweet, and a crowd pleaser! It actually is encouraging me to try my cereal cookies a slightly different way, too! Most no-bake cereal recipes I've seen call for karo syrup. While I truthfully don't have any objections to karo syrup, especially since it's required for the bucketful of hard candy I make at Christmas time, I like the idea of using honey instead. And, while I am not a huge fan of honey (please don't judge me), it's honestly not noticeable here. It might be SLIGHTLY overpowered by the Reese's Pieces and chocolate chips... but who know, it might just be a light taste here. ;) 

Oh, and for the picky eaters: don't skip the cranberry. Really. It adds just a bit of fun to some bites, but definitely isn't overpowering. 
(Side note, I discovered that my boys really like dried cranberries. I don't usually buy it, I honestly just bought it for this... but I will buy it more often. They both devoured the handfuls I gave them when I was making these!)

Printable Recipe

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, & Cranberry Cereal Bars

Ingredients

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 3 cups Cheerios cereal
• ¾ cup mini Reese’s Pieces
• ¼ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Spray a 9"x9” baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat sugar and honey over medium heat almost to boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in cereal, mini Reese’s Pieces, and cranberries until evenly coated. Press evenly into prepared pan using a spatula. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
4. Cut into squares and serve.

Yield/Time

16 servings

10 minutes + cooling

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

213/bar

Source (for original): Simply Being Mommy

Remember, comments are loved! What's your favorite no bake recipe--bar, or cookie?