Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Name: Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Yield: 16 bars (2x2-inch)

Whole grain oats, peanut butter, and dried fruit make a crispy, chewy treat that is great for on the go.

Video

Cooking for a Crowd

Use these recipe sheets to prepare for larger groups:

Platter of oat and peanut butter squares with raisins.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Makes: 16 bars (2x2-inch)
Nutrition Facts: View label

Ingredients

½ cup honey (see Notes)

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups rice cereal

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup raisins or other dried fruit

Directions

Wash hands with soap and water.
In a saucepan, bring honey to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and stir in peanut butter.
Add cereal, oats and raisins; mix well. Remove from heat.
Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking pan. Press mixture into pan. When cool, cut into 16 bars.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

Try this recipe with 4 cups of unsweetened cereal flakes instead of the rice cereal and oats.
Honey is not recommended for children under 1 year old.
To avoid peanuts or peanut butter, try sunflower seeds or sunflower seed butter.

Comments

Submitted by Shawna Holland on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 15:04

I made these for my family today and they were a HIT! So yummy and they set up perfectly! Will be a staple snack recipe from here on out! :)

Submitted by julee on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 09:30

What is the best way to store to keep them fresh? Would they freeze well?

Submitted by elaine s on Tue, 05/30/2017 - 15:18

Store these in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap for up to a week. After that time, they are still safe to eat but the quality is less. They could be frozen. Place the plastic wrapped individual bars in a freezer quality storage bag and label with the date. For best quality, use within 4 to 6 weeks.

The Food Hero Team

Submitted by julee on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 07:05

How do you store these to keep them fresh?

Submitted by dowriee on Fri, 03/13/2015 - 10:45

Yummy! Better than store bought granola bars and soo easy! I subbed in sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter and honey for the corn syrup since I was using this for a school activity and the kids LOVED the bars! I think this will become a Sunday rock climbing day go to snack!

Submitted by Tarn on Thu, 03/12/2015 - 15:16

These are delicious, and so simple! The Rice Krispies really give a great texture, and the peanut butter caramel-like sauce holding everything together is so good! I've tried to make granola bars before but they were either too crumbly or too chewy. The peanut butter mix and crunchy cereal mixed in helped eliminate both of those problems.

Submitted by tierrabonita on Mon, 03/02/2015 - 12:25

SO GOOD!!! Super fliexible recipe. Can be eaten for snack, breakfast or dessert. And any dry fruit could be used in place of raisins. My 3 year old loved mixing all the ingredients together and its so fast to make!

Submitted by Claudia on Thu, 11/01/2012 - 14:51

Yummy, although they didn't stick together as a bar very well.

Submitted by RainyDayMama on Sun, 10/28/2012 - 15:09

What about substituting honey for the sugar and corn syrup?

Submitted by Abby on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 14:09

We need to test the substitution of honey a little more to get the correct proportions. We will add this option to the recipe when we have worked out. Remember that honey is not recommended for children under 1 year old.

-Food Hero Team

Submitted by OregonGal56 on Sun, 09/16/2012 - 15:38

This recipe is great, can add lots of other healthy things like flax and pumpkin seeds. We are not allowed to bring peanut products to school, do you think Sunbutter, made with ground sunflower seeds would work in this recipe?

Submitted by Abby on Mon, 09/17/2012 - 12:03

Thank you for sharing, those are great ideas! Sunflower butter is a yummy alternative to peanut butter and works well in most recipes. This recipe has been recently tested with sunflower butter and it was just as tasty! The bars turn out a little less firm than when regular peanut butter is used.

Food Hero Team

Submitted by LesleyJ on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 16:39

Fabulous! I added some nuts to the recipe and my kids loved them! They took one to school everyday until they were gone!