Need an easy breakfast, snack, or lunchbox treat? Make a big batch of Peanut Butter Chex Granola Bars!
Have you every made homemade granola bars? If not, you need to. They are so easy to make and you can control the ingredients. They are also usually cheaper than the packaged kind that you buy at the store.
I have been making homemade granola bars for years. When I started eating gluten free I made them more often because I loved having gluten free snacks on hand.
When my daughter developed her tree nut and peanut allergy, homemade granola bars became a must make. I needed to control the ingredients because so few granola bars are gluten free and nut free.
You might be wondering why I am talking about peanut allergies at the same time I am sharing a peanut butter granola bar recipe. That is because these granola bars work great with sunflower butter or soy butter.
These don’t have to be made with peanut butter. I make them all the time with soy or sunflower butter and my family loves them. These are a great homemade granola bar treat for those with nut allergies.
If you are not nut free I think almond butter would also work. Really any sort of nut butter, peanut butter, or peanut butter alternative should work for these.
These homemade granola bars can also be made gluten free by using gluten free oats and gluten free Chex.
We love these with mini chocolate chips added, but you don’t have to. They are good with or without the chocolate.
Now for the recipe!
Peanut Butter Chex Granola Bars
Peanut Butter Chex Granola Bars are a quick and easy homemade breakfast, snack, or lunchbox treat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, sunflower butter, or soy butter
- 4 cups quick oats ( I use gluten free quick oats)
- 4 cups rice Chex or other Chex cereal
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13 pan or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large pan heat butter, brown sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and stir until smooth.
- Stir in oats and Chex cereal.
- Press mixture into 9x13 pan.
- Press mini chocolate chips onto the top of the bars.
- Let set for several hour or overnight.
- Cut into bars.
Notes
If you want the bars to cut easier and look better line the pan with parchment paper. You don't have to though. You can press the mixture right into a greased pan and cut them into bars.
These look great!
My husband is 55 years old and JUST discovered that he likes granola bars. He’s always been convinced he didn’t like oats. LOL. I am SO GLAD because this opens up lots of options for treats now! He does prefer chewy to crunchy.
He’s now all about buying these dang things at the store. All of the packaging and weird ingredients stress me out – so I’m glad to have a recipe I can trust trying out on him.
Not sure I will use the cereal but I should be able to increase nuts or oats and make this perfect for us.
Thanks for a great snack suggestion! Since food processing factories seem to have huge numbers of employees testing positive for this virus, having this recipe seems even more timely!
What can I use if ai can’t eat honey?
Thank you!
These look so good!
Karo syrup would work.
Do we cover, set in fridge or leave out?
We just cover them and let them set on the counter. These don’t last long at our house, but if you want firmer bars or want them to last a few days you can refrigerate them. I hope that you enjoy them!
These look good. We eat granola bars the most while we are traveling, do you have a recommendation on how to wrap or store these for road trips? We end up buying the packaged ones for our trips for the convenience of it all, but then we always feel better if we eat food I’ve cooked. When I think of individually wrapping them, I think it’s not much better than store-bought. And when I consider putting them in bags or pans, I am not sure how well that well travel or how I’ll get one bar to my children in the back of the van. I’m going to try this recipe, it looks wonderful as all yours are! Thanks for continuing to share solid normal recipes!
I hope that you enjoy them!
YUM! I made these but did not use oats. Instead I added 4 cups of Walmart’s Raisin Crunch, also lots of roasted, salted peanuts and sunflower seeds; and lastly dried Cranberries. I did stir in a large Tb. of cocoa powder as well. Have never made Granola bars before but was shocked at how easy these were and really delicious!
I am so glad that you enjoyed them! Thank you for sharing how you made them. I am glad to know that they worked well with Raisin Crunch cereal instead of oats.
How long do these typically last if I want to make a bigger batch and store them? I’m excited to try them, thanks for the recipe!
They don’t usually last long at our house, but I have had them stay fresh with a good texture for around four days. I hope that helps.