Chocolate Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

These homemade chocolate peanut cutter cereal bars are the best. Made with your favourite cereal, peanut butter, and chocolate, they have the most amazing texture and flavour. These cereal bars are healthier than store bough granola bars and taste so much better. These bars can also be made gluten free, dairy free, and vegan.

Why you will love this recipe:

• The flavour! These homemade peanut butter cereal bars have the perfect combination of flavours with a salty, crunchy cereal layer, a rich and sweet peanut butter layer and a delicious chocolate layer to top it all off.
• These cereal bars are a healthy alternative to store bought chocolate peanut butter granola bars - They're refined sugar free, gluten free, dairy free and can easily be made vegan and paleo too.
• You can make these healthy cereal bars with any type of cereal you like including Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes or my personal favourite, Lovebird cereal.
• They make a great dessert, breakfast or snack. 
• These bars freeze really well so they are great for meal prep.
• They are the perfect on the go snack or after workout snack.
• Kids love them!
• You can easily make these cereal bars without peanut butter by using another nut or seed butter such as almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
• If you love cereal bars you are going to love homemade chocolate granola bars!

Taste and texture:

These bars taste amazing! They have a delectable dark chocolate outer layer with a nice sweet and crispy inner layer that is full of peanut butter flavour. The combination of dark chocolate, salty peanut butter, crispy cereal and sweet honey or maple syrup is amazing.

Key ingredients and substitutions:

Cereal - to give the bars the perfect amount of crunch and texture. You can choose any type of cereal that you like. for this recipe - I used this LoveBird cereal which is gluten free, grain free, paleo and refined sugar free! Other great options would be cereals like Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or Cheerios.

Honey or maple syrup - to add some delicious natural sweetness to the many layers of these delicious homemade chocolate cereal bars. Both of these sweeteners are refined sugar free which helps make these bars healthier than most store bought cereal bars or granola bars.

Peanut butter - Be sure to use a natural, smooth, unsweetened peanut butter for this cereal bar recipe. You could also substitute peanut butter with another nut or seed butter such as cashew butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter.

Milk or dark chocolate - chocolate is layered on top of these bars to give these cereal bars a photo finish and A+ flavour! I use these Zazubean chocolate bars which are both dairy free and refined sugar free. You can use any chocolate that you like including dark chocolate, milk chocolate or chocolate chips.

How to make this recipe:

To make the cereal layer:

Step one:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step two:

Next, add your cereal to a food processor and blend until it reaches a flour-like consistency.

Step three:

Then add the cereal to a medium bowl along with the other cereal layer ingredients. Stir everything well until you have a nice sticky consistency.

Step four:

Now line an 8″ x 8″ baking dish with parchment paper and then add the cereal mixture to the baking dish, pressing it down into an even layer

Step five:

Bake the bars for 12 minutes and then let them cool.

To make the peanut butter layer:

Step one:

While the cereal layer is cooling, place a small or medium pot on the stove and add the peanut butter layer ingredients. 

Step two:

Heat on low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently to combine all the ingredients until they are smooth.

Step three:

Then pour the peanut butter layer over the cereal layer and then place the pan in the freezer for 2 hours, to harden the peanut butter layer.

Step four:

Once the peanut butter layer has hardened, remove the pan from the freezer and pull the parchment paper out of the pan with the bars on it. 

Step five:

Now cut the bars into 12 pieces (or as many as you like).

To make the chocolate layer:

Step one:

First, melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish by heating it on high in 30 second intervals until melted.

Step two:

Then place each bar into the melted chocolate and cover it completely in the chocolate.

Step three:

Then return the bar to the pan.

Step four:

When all the bars are coated in chocolate, place the pan back in the freezer for 5 minutes to harden the chocolate. Then enjoy!

Chef's tips:

• When blending the cereal in your food processor, leave a few chunks to give the bars even more texture.
• Use a hot knife to cut these bars into pieces more easily (I simply run the blade under hot water).
• To add some extra crunch sprinkle some crushed peanuts on top of the chocolate layer while it is still warm.
• Be sure to use natural, smooth, unsweetened peanut butter or other nut butter for this recipe (the bars will be too sweet if you use sweetened peanut butter).

Variations and add ins:

• How to make these bars paleo: use a paleo friendly cereal (like Lovebird) and another nut or seed butter such as cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
• To make these bars gluten free: use a gluten free cereal.
• To make these bars vegan: be sure to use vegan chocolate and maple syrup instead of peanut butter.
• You get to decide whether to use milk chocolate or dark chocolate in this recipe. Both are amazing!

How to store:

Store these bars in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 14 days.

These bars also freeze really well.

Frequently asked questions:

Other recipes you will love:

• Apple Pie Bars
• Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
• Turtle Cookie Bars
• Gluten Free Lemon Bars with Cranberry
• Paleo Mint Crunch Bars

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