No-Bake Chocolate Cereal Bars

Sweet, crunchy, nutty, and chocolatey- these no-bake chocolate cereal bars might become your next favorite snack bar.

With this simple no-bake chocolate cereal bars recipe, you can now give your oven a day off, and make these delicious sweet treats in a jiffy.

These are super easy to put together and are perfect for when you need a little snack to munch on, or even as something to carry with you on the go. They taste just like a bar of chocolate brownies and you can make these in a big batch and store them for later, which is great.

Tempted enough to go ahead and give the recipe a shot? Here’s all you need to know about it before you do.

Ingredients For the Recipe

You will need just 5 simple ingredients to make these cereal bars.

½ cup sugar
½ cup honey
¾ cup creamy peanut butter or almond butter
¾ cup chocolate
2 cups corn flakes

How to Make the No Bake Chocolate Cereal Bars

Once you have all the ingredients ready, here’s what you need to do to make the no-bake chocolate cereal bars.

add sugar, honey and peanut butter in a bowl and mix thoroughly

In a big pot over medium temperature add the sugar, honey, and peanut butter and stir until the peanut butter is melted.

add melted chocolate to the mixture and mix well

Add the chocolate and stir until it is melted.

Add the cereal and stir once again until everything is well combined.

pour the mixture to the mould with baking paper and let it freeze

Pour the mixture in a baking dish lined with baking paper and leave it in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Cut into bars or cubes and serve it.

What Else Can I Add to the No-Bake Chocolate Cereal Bars?

The possibilities are endless when it comes to making these cereal bars. Based on your preference, you can throw in nuts, dried fruits, and many other add-ons. Here are a few good options you can consider.
Chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Mini marshmallows
Sea salt flakes
Desiccated coconut
Almond flakes
Dried cranberries (or any other berries of your choice)
Chopped pistachios
Chopped pecans
Chopped walnuts
Raisins

What Can I Use Instead of Honey?

Honey doesn’t just act as a sweetener for this recipe but also helps bind the rest of the ingredients together. Its sticky texture is just what you need for this recipe, and if you’re looking for an alternative, maple syrup and agave syrup are two good alternatives. They have a similar texture and lend the mixture the subtle sweetness that you want it to have.

What Can I Use Instead of Corn Flakes?

Corn flakes are the classic breakfast cereal that you can use for this recipe- you just can’t go wrong with them. While they are perfect to make these no-bake chocolate cereal bars, you don’t necessarily have to stick to using them.
Infact, you could use any other cereal you prefer. Remember that different cereals have different textures, and they may perform differently when combined with the other ingredients. It is always a good idea to stick to using ‘O’ shaped cereals, as they hold their shape well, don’t get soggy, and get distributed evenly throughout the bars.

How Do I Store them?

One of the best things about these cereal bars is the fact that they can be stored at room temperature. All you need to do is wrap each individual bar in parchment paper (to keep them from sticking to each other) and then transfer them to an airtight container. They can stay fresh there for up to a week or up to 4 weeks if you refrigerate them.
Just remember to get them out of the refrigerator before you munch on them so that they’re soft and chewy just the way you want them to be.

Tips & Tricks to Nail the No-Bake Chocolate Cereal Bars

Ready to give this easy recipe a try? Wait up! Don’t forget to keep these little tips and tricks in mind to nail the recipe.

No-Bake Chocolate Cereal Bars on a plater

To make these cereal bars hold their shape better, you can mix a bit of coconut oil or butter with the melted chocolate, and then follow the rest of the recipe as is.
If you don’t want to use either or them, a tablespoon of corn syrup can also do the trick.
If the mixture seems too soft and sticky, you can add a teaspoon or more of cocoa powder into it and give it a good mix. This will help the mixture become thick and malleable. Just remember to opt for unsweetened cocoa powder, or the bars might become overly sweet.
You could swap white sugar with brown sugar for this recipe to give it a more rich, caramel-like taste.
This recipe calls for the use of creamy almond or peanut butter, but if you don’t mind the chunky bits, you can totally opt for the crunchy variant instead. In fact, you can also use any other nut butter of your choice.
To add a little bit more bulk and healthy goodness into the cereal bars, you can mix a bit of instant oats or lightly toasted oats as well. Remember to balance out the other ingredients too, so that your cereal bars have the right texture and flavor in the end.
To bring in a bit of different texture and flavor, you can use salted nuts instead of regular chopped nuts.
Nut butters are an absolute must for this recipe, but if you don’t really want to use them, you could use seed butters (like sunflower seed butter) too. The idea is to bring in a bit of additional flavor with the chocolate, and also get the health benefits out of the nut or seed butter.
For a little extra antioxidant boost, you can use dark chocolate instead of regular milk chocolate for this recipe.

Loved making these no-bake chocolate cereal bars? Want to try out some more such fun recipes? Check these out!

Recipe

Yield: 15 Bars