These easy Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars are a 15-minute no-bake treat. Made with cornflakes, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, peanut butter, sweet chocolate chips, and marshmallows these bars are a sweet snack that no one can resist!
Why You’ll Love These Easy Bars
There’s a lot to love about these tasty bars!
- Easy- You will need a quick trip to the stove or microwave, but otherwise, these bars don’t require any cooking. What else can you ask for in a no-bake dessert or snack?
- Tasty– Sweet, a tad tart, chewy, and savory — peanut butter bars have it all going on.
- Convenience– They don’t require any special equipment, store easily and travel well.
Ingredients
These simple ingredients are generally pantry staples. The mix-ins are easily customizable for this easy treat.
- Butter– I do use salted butter for this recipe instead of adding more butter. Since none of the other ingredients are particularly high in salt, it doesn’t warrant them same concern for controlling levels yourself.
- Marshmallows – minis melt at a more even pace, but really any size is fine as long as you have the correct volume.
- Peanut butter- My personal preference is a creamy peanut butter, but feel free to use crunchy peanut butter too. I do not recommend using natural peanut butters. The oil ratios aren’t the same and tend to separate, making it not ideal for this type of recipe.
- Corn Flakes cereal- Or another generic brand.
- Dried cranberries– Or any other dried fruit like raisins, currants or cherries. Even figs will taste great!
- Slivered almonds– I found that the shape and size of slivered or sliced almonds provided the best ratio, but really any nut can work. If using walnuts, peanuts or pecans, chop them into smaller pieces.
- Mini chocolate chips- Regular size also work. For a fun variation, grab butterscotch, peanut butter, dark chocolate or white chocolate chips.
Variations
There are a few ways to jazz up these super simple bars.
- Cereals – Swap out the cornflakes for Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Wheaties, Raisin Bran, or Special K.
- Granola – Use granola or a granola blend instead of the listed berries, nuts, and chocolate chips.
- Sweetener – Stir a touch of maple syrup or agave nectar into the peanut butter mixture.
- Nut butter – Instead of peanut butter, use almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Chocolate – Drizzle melted chocolate over the bars.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars
Whip these chewy bars up in just minutes!
- Prep the dish. Depending on how thick you want your bars and also how many you want to make, use a 9×13, 5×7 or 8×8 baking dish. Coat it with cooking spray and set aside.
- Make the peanut butter mixture. Heat the butter, peanut butter, and marshmallows in a medium or large saucepan over medium heat on the stove top, stirring continually with a wooden spoon until fully melted and creamy. Remove from the heat. You can also make this mixture in a microwave-safe bowl, heating at 30 second intervals.
- Pour in the cereal. Fold in the cornflakes, dried cranberries and slivered almonds carefully so they don’t all break apart.
- Transfer to the baking dish. Turn the mixture into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the peanut butter mixture. Flatten using the back of your spoon or place a piece of wax or parchment paper over the bars and do this with your hands (to protect against sticking, the heat and also keeping your hands clean).
- Let the bars set. Allow the bars to cool fully before cutting into bars for your whole family to enjoy.
Common Questions About Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars
There are two reasons. The simplest is that you added too many dry ingredients without enough wet. But the second is that the sugars were overcooked. It is really more like making candy or fudge and if the mixture is overcooked and over stirred, it can get dry and crumbly.
If your cookies are failing to set up or take shape, it is likely that the mixture was no boiled long enough, letting water evaporate out and sugars to hit the soft ball stage of candy making.
It’s been said that variations of these no-bake cookies were made by wives when the preacher would come to visit because they had verstile ingredients and came together so quickly.
Storage
Store this tasty treat in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature. The bars are best enjoyed as close to preparing as possible but will be tasty for up to a week.
Make Ahead
Prepare the bars up to 2 days in advance of when you plan to serve. As with any bar, they will start to dry out the longer they sit.
Refrigerator
Store the bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or on the counter for 4 days. They will get hard in the fridge, so take them out to room temp about 30 minutes before you want to eat them.
Freezer
These bars can be frozen if wrapped individually in aluminum foil or freezer paper and then placed in freezer bags. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature until fully defrosted.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 ounces marshmallows
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 6 cups Corn Flakes cereal
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Coat a 9×13 or 5×7 baking dish (depending on how thick you want your breakfast bars) with cooking spray.
- Heat the butter, peanut butter and marshmallows in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring continually with a wooden spoon until fully melted and creamy, approximately 5 minutes.
- Fold in the corn flakes, dried cranberries and slivered almonds, mixing to combine.
- Turn the mixture into your prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips. Flatten using the back of your spoon or place a piece of wax or parchment over the bars and do this with your hands.
- Allow the bars to cool fully before serving.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
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We loved these so much, the kids are asking me to make them again!
These bars are so delicious – simple to prepare and the perfect sweet treat. We love the mix-ins too!
Loved these! Made them for my kids last weekend and they couldn’t get enough.
Glad I found this recipe, I wanted something fun to serve at a party and these were the hit of the dessert bar. I was asked for the recipe.