No-Bake Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Granola Bars (Lower-Fat)

"This is a delicious lower fat bar if using reduced-fat peanut butter, these are perfect for kid's lunch boxes, feel free to add in some chopped nuts or sunflower seeds or coconut in place of the raisins,"
 
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photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by A Marsteller photo by A Marsteller
photo by Tr1na photo by Tr1na
photo by Marg (CaymanDesigns) photo by Marg (CaymanDesigns)
Ready In:
22mins
Ingredients:
8
Yields:
16 bars
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ingredients

  • 1 12 cups Rice Krispies (for a firmer bar increase up to 2 cups)
  • 1 12 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 12 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 12 1/2 cup light corn syrup or 1/2 cup honey
  • 12 cup reduced-fat peanut butter (or can use regular peanut butter)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 12 cup dark raisin (or can use either 1/2 cup chopped nuts or 1/2 cup seeds or 1/2 cup coconut)
  • 13 cup mini chocolate chip (to prevent melting refrigerate or freeze the chocolate chips before mixing in)
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directions

  • lightly grease 11 x 7-inch, can use a 13 x 9-inch baking dish but you will have a thinner bar.
  • In a large bowl combine Rice Krispies cereal, oats and raisins.
  • In a saucepan stir the corn syrup or honey and brown sugar until just at a boil.
  • Immediately remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
  • Pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl; mix to combine.
  • Mix in mini chocolate chips (if using) work fast the mixture hardens quickly.
  • Transfer the mixture into prepared baking dish, then using slightly wet hands push evenly down into the pan.
  • While the mixture is still soft, for easier slicing take a sharp knife and slice into desired size bars.
  • Chill until firm.

Questions & Replies

  1. How long do these keep? Planning on sending some international, will they be okay?
     
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Reviews

  1. As I have now made these about 15 times I figured it is time I made a review LOL! I am giving 5 stars because the beauty of this recipe is its versatility--I have used cashew butter, chocolate chips, and dried cherries together, almond butter with chocolate chips and mint extract, and peanut butter with chocolate chips and crushed pretzels. I always use old fashioned oats pulsed in my coffee grinder a bit, and I often use a mixture of rice crispy cereal and plain cheerios (those cereals that languish in the pantry toward the end of the box LOL). You can totally make these in the microwave; I mix the nut butter, honey, and about 1/4 sugar and microwave for about 45 seconds, stir, then pop it back in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Easy peasy and dangerously quick! The only major tweak I make every time is one I highly recommend--if you use natural nut butters, add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt with the dry ingredients. It will make these taste much more like their store bought counterparts. My kids and I inhale these almost as fast as I can make them, so thank you for the recipe!
     
  2. Oh Kit these are so easy and oh so good!! Made these for my dbf and we loved them! As my dbf does not love sweets (as I do!), I didn't add any brown sugar at all and they turned out perfect!! All I added was some dark raisins and next time will add some dried cranberries! Thanks Kit! :)
     
  3. Simply perfect! My kids went nuts over these. I did use pruns and dried apricots instead of raisins. So delicious! Thank you so much!
     
  4. Made as is and they were WAY TOO GOOD. I couldn't keep them around long enough! My kids devoured half the pan before I was able to wrap up the last half for the next day. lol Definitely a keeper.
     
  5. Absolutely wonderful! I did tweak it just a little (diet specific). I omitted the brown sugar, and added 1 tablespoon of flax seed meal. I also used carob chips instead of chocolate. Healthy, and very, very yummy! These will be a staple around my house! :-)
     
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Tweaks

  1. I love this recipe! I can't believe I haven't reviewed it yet for as often as I make it. I use 2 cups of puffed rice cereal (not Rice Krispies, but the plain ol' puffed rice with a single ingredient of brown rice), 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and sometimes molasses instead of corn syrup. Sometimes I use almond butter instead of peanut butter, so it could be made quite allergy-friendly. As recommended, I mix everything except the mini chocolate chips (I tried full-size, and mini are better), let it cool slightly, then add the mini chips. Oh yum yum yum! It's still quite sweet, so I've been playing with it, and I can replace some of the syrup/molasses with water with acceptable results. The trick to good results is to PRESS the bars into the pan. PRESS HARD. The less air, the more likely it is to stay in bar form! I use a piece of waxed paper to keep my hands (or lid) clean while pressing. Next I pop the pan in the freezer to make the bars easier to slice. I usually slice into 12 bars instead of 16 (too yummy to skimp) and wrap each one with press-n-seal (I've been happiest with that for this). Then I store the bars in the freezer until I need a snack. And when I remember I have these in the freezer, I can feel the need to snack building up! At least it's healthier (and cheaper) than so many other snack choices. I'm a huge fan of recipes that are flexible, meaning they can be used as a starting point to make something different. Other dried fruit, nuts, coconut ... just imagine this with chopped almonds and coconut instead of raisins! I'm sure that would be awesome too! This is the best kind of flexible recipe because I only measure the dry ingredients (fewer dishes to wash, and I just rinse after dry stuff), and I get good results eyeballing the sticky stuff.
     
  2. Used cheerios instead of raisins, nuts, etc. Instead of chocolate chips, I sprinkled on chocolate jimmies. Kids loved them, even my super picky one. We just had a birthday and it made them forget there were cupcakes in the house. ;)
     
  3. Simply perfect! My kids went nuts over these. I did use pruns and dried apricots instead of raisins. So delicious! Thank you so much!
     
  4. Absolutely wonderful! I did tweak it just a little (diet specific). I omitted the brown sugar, and added 1 tablespoon of flax seed meal. I also used carob chips instead of chocolate. Healthy, and very, very yummy! These will be a staple around my house! :-)
     
  5. Wonderful and easy recipe! I made these as a special treat for DH but I don't know, I may just keep them all to myself! lol! I added craisins instead of raisins, and chopped up a handful of dried pineapple and papaya along with shaved coconut, for more of a tropical granola bar. Thanks Kitt! Next time I'm making a double batch!
     

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