Homemade Cliff Bars (No Bake!)

Submitted by Redsie

"From Enlightened Cooking."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 12 bars
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1 1⁄4 cups crisp rice cereal (e.g., Rice Krispies)
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
• 1⁄4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
• 1⁄4 cup finely chopped nuts (preferably roasted or toasted)
• 1⁄4 cup brown rice syrup (or honey, maple syrup, or light molasses)
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1⁄3 cup nut butter (e.g., peanut, almond, cashew, soynut)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Optional

• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

directions

1. Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.
2. Bring the syrup and brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in nut butter and vanilla until blended.
3. Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (mixture will be stiff). Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper.
4. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 12 bars.
5. (Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator).

6. Variations:

7. Chocolate Chip Cookie: Replace the dried fruit with an equal amount of semisweet miniature chocolate chips (or carob chips). Combine the cereal mixture with the syrup mixture, then let the combined mixture stand 10 minutes before adding the chips.
8. Peanut Butter Cookie: Use chopped dates for the dried fruit and dry roasted peanuts for the nuts. Use honey, or half honey-half molasses for the syrup and peanut butter for the nut butter.
9. Will You Cherry Me? Use chopped dried tart cherries for the fruit and lightly salted roasted almonds for the nuts. Use any nut butter (almond butter is great, but I know, very expensive, and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
10. Apple Pie: Use chopped dried apples for the fruit and rice syrup or honey for the syrup. Be sure to add the cinnamon option, and use toasted walnuts or pecans for the nuts.

Reviews

[Emily W.]

These are delicious! They're so much better than brand name clif bars, and you can make them whatever flavor you want. I like to use dried cranberries and top the bars with white chocolate drizzle. I've experimented with how to get the bars to stick together. I use honey and sunflower seed butter, and when I use the amounts listed in the recipe, the bars are always too crumbly. I also use golden brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar, so the moisture content may not be high enough in the sugar to make the bars sticky. I've found that upping the amount of honey to 1/2 or 1/3 cup and adding just a little more sunflower seed butter does the trick. If you want bars closer in texture to a real clif bar, try giving your oats a spin through a blender or magic bullet. I also throw my almonds through the bullet to turn them into powder. If you want to make a chocolate-y bar, add a little bit of cocoa powder to the cereal mixture. You don't want to add too much, though, or you can make the bars bitter.

 

[jconway520]

Love these and make them a ton! A great recipe that you can tweak to fit your tastes. I usually omit the brown sugar but add an egg and bake. I know it defeats the purpose of a no bake recipe, but it makes the granola all crunchy with a little less sugar and I love it!

 

[Cook4_6]

I really like the flavor, but my bars wouldn't stay together. It seems that more of the sticky sauce needs to be added? Or do you have any other suggestions for what I may have not done correctly? No one else had issues...so maybe it is me. I used craisins, toasted walnuts and almond butter. Delish! Next time I am going to try it with dark chocolate covered dried cherries chopped small!

 

[CoffeeB]

Since I've never had a CliffBar (because they're so costly) I can't compare. But, if they taste anything like this I can understand the cost. These are wonderful Reds albeit a bit of a trick to put together. I used honey for the syrup part and ended up throwing in a splash of maple syrup because it seemed a bit dry. I'm sure this was because of the almond butter I was using that wasn't blending or melting into the mix well. I did have to end up using my hands to mix together and then press into an 8x8 inch pan. I then took your advice and used a square of wax paper to press down firmly. They still fell apart somewhat upon cutting and getting out of the pan and so I would recommend chilling for at least an hour. I didn't worry about the crumbliness as I wrap mine in saranwrap and put in the freezer in a big zip-lock bag for whenever. A great idea for on-the-go. Made for HolidayTag.

 

[Susan P.]

I have made these a lot!!! My family likes these better than regular cliff bars. I triple the recipe and keep them in the freezer. I think I'm addicted to them! I use a half cup of honey and peanut butter. I'm still trying to tweak this recipe so that they don't fall apart when you eat them. Has anyone baked them successfully? Please let me know.