Cereal Snack Bars

I've been experimenting with recipes to make a substitute for store bought granola bars to take in lunches. Store bought ones are expensive, loaded in sugar and corn syrup, almost all of them have soy products and don't have much nutritional value.

I'm trying bars based on cereal, since I stocked up when it was cheap and now we need to use it up. The last batch I tried simple honey cheerio bars, which were delicious! Hubby requested more seeds and texture, so here's the improved version.





















Honey Sesame Cheerio Bars
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Skippy natural peanut butter, crunchy
3 cups Cheerios
2 cups Kix
1 cup oatmeal (dry)
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds
Nonstick spray

Combine sugar and honey in a small, heavy saucepan. Heat over medium until it's melted and smooth, stirring often with a heat proof spatula. Here's what you want it to look like when it's melted




Meanwhile, combine Cheerios, Kix, oatmeal, flax seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon and almonds in a large bowl. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray, or grease with olive or canola oil.

When honey and sugar are melted, add peanut butter and stir until it melts too. Pour over the cereal mix. Stir until thoroughly combined. It helps to use a transparent bowl so you can look at the bottom and see if there's still ingredients at the bottom that haven't been stuck to the rest. Empty the bowl into the 9x13 pan and spread. Press down firmly with the spatula to make a mostly even layer.

Cool and slice into bars or squares. Refridgeration not necessary, but you can if you want - it'll make them more firm and chewy, almost tough.

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get it working!