Tiffany is out of town so I decided to whip up a new treat on my own yesterday. The ingredient list called for peanut butter and chocolate so that was all I needed to read before committing. The name of these yummy bars is a nod to the fact that the main ingredient is the cereal Chex. The cereal and the peanuts provide the salty and the brown sugar and chocolate provide the sweet. In my opinion, an irresistible combination.
This recipe seemed simple enough…8 pretty basic ingredients and only 7 steps.
Ingredients
6 cups Rice Chex
1 1/4 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 ounces chocolate (I combined both milk and dark)
Instructions
1. Butter the sides and the bottom of a 9X12 baking tray. Line the tray with a sheet of parchment paper long enough that it hangs over the short sides of the tray. (You will later use the overhang parts of the paper to lift the bars out of the tray.) Butter the parchment paper.
2. Mix together cereal and peanuts in a large bowl
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together brown sugar and corn syrup. Once sugary mixture has boiled for a full minute, remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt.
4. Pour the mixture over the cereal and peanuts and toss until the Chex is evenly coated. Next, spread the mixture into the baking tray. (I then greased my hands a bit with butter and pressed the mixture into the pan.)
5. Allow mixture to cool for half an hour or place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
6. Melt chocolate completely and drizzle over the treat. You can just pour it over haphazardly with a spoon or use a piping bag. (I had the seemingly great idea to use my pancake batter dispenser. Well, I squeezed and no chocolate came out so I squeeze harder. Chocolate explosion.) Allow chocolate to set.
7. Using the overhang, lift the mixture out of the pan and place on flat surface. Cut squares into desired size.
My Take
These bars turned out really well. The crunchiness of the Chex is a nice contrast with the smoothness of the peanut butter coating. The recipe made close to two dozen bars so I save half and gave away half. I was able to make these within half an hour which was a bonus. However, if you do not have time to clean up immediately afterwards, you might want to wait to attempt this recipe. Because of the corn syrup, the peanut butter and the chocolate, cleaning up took awhile. If you have to wait, you should definitely soak everything. Hardened corn syrup can be a beast. All in all, I would recommend this recipe. My one recommendation would be to increase the amount of chocolate if you are a big fan. I felt that the peanut butter provided such a strong taste that it almost cancelled out the chocolate. Because this recipe made so many bars, it is a great treat to make for parties or get togethers.
Just remember…do not use a pancake batter dispenser…
Hope you all have a fantastic day!
xoxo
Lindsey
