No Bake Cereal Bars

This post has been sponsored by General Mills, Inc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Everyone needs an easy recipe for No Bake Cereal Bars in their recipe box. These wholesome, sweet treats are perfect for breakfast on the go, lunch box desserts, and after school snacking. Your kids and grandkids are going to love these fun bars that are made with their favorite cereal. And you might have a hard time keeping your hands off of them, too!

No Bake Cereal Bars

Make these cereal bars and you automatically win Mom of the Year. Think about it… Honey Nut Cheerios™ combined with bits of dried fruit, chopped nuts, and a wholesome blend of peanut butter and honey to hold it all together. YUM! Best part? No baking required.

BONUS: For fun we have a magical variation at the bottom of this post for No Bake Cereal Bars made with Lucky Charms™. Because….marshmallows.

You can find all of your favorite General Mills© cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios and Lucky Charms at your local Dollar General® store. General Mills© and Dollar General® are partnering with Box Tops for Education to raise money for your school. Plus, you scan in your receipt to the Box Tops for Education mobile app and a $1 donation to Dollar General®’s Literacy Fund. 

Dollar General® is an ideal place to shop for me because it is convenient and has the snacks my family enjoys. Plus, I save big.

Each General Mills© Box Tops for Education product uploaded donates 10 cents to the school of your choice. All you have to do is Scan for your School! Download the Box Tops for Education app today.

How to use the Box Tops for Education App

1. Purchase participating products featuring Box Tops for Education
2. Download the Box Tops for Education mobile app
3. Select your school
4. Scan your receipt using your mobile phone

Then for every receipt scanned in the Box Tops for Education app, General Mills© will donate $1 to the Dollar General® Literacy Fund.

How awesome is this? General Mills©, Box Tops and Dollar General® have teamed up to make our communities better with your help. As a result, our children and grandchildren will benefit.

Ingredients Need to Make These Cereal Bars:

• Honey Nut Cheerios™
• Dried fruit and nuts (We used trail mix.)
• Honey
• Brown sugar
• Peanut butter
• Vanilla
• Salt (Just a pinch.)

Pick your favorite dried fruit and nuts for this cereal bar recipe. You can use raisins, cranberries, pecans, almonds…whatever your family loves. Originally, I was going to use chopped pecans and golden raisins. Because I had a bit of trail mix on hand I decided to use it instead. It was full of roasted almonds, sunflower seeds, dried mango, and cranberries.

TIP: Chocolate lovers...toss in a few chocolate chips. The sky is the limit on how you make yours.

How to Make No Bake Cereal Bars:

1. First, generously spray a 9×13 baking pan with butter flavored non-stick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cereal with the trail mix.
3. Then, in a medium sized saucepan, combine the honey and brown sugar. Stir over medium heat frequently. Increase heat slowly and bring to a low boil for 1 minute.
4. Next, remove the honey mixture from heat. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
5. Carefully pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal mix because it is hot. Using a spoon, stir and toss to coat well.
6. Press the sticky cereal mixture into the prepared pan.
7. Let cool for 20 minutes. Finally, cut and serve. Store any leftovers in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

If the kids are helping you in the kitchen, make sure you take over the saucepan. The honey and brown sugar mixture is VERY hot and should be handled by an adult only.

TIP: Because the mixture is sticky, it has a tendency to cling to your hands and spoons. So use a layer of plastic wrap or parchment paper to press the cereal evenly into the pan.

The kids (and adults) will gobble these No Bake Cereal Bars up. No worries, it is so easy to whip up another batch.

How to Scan for Your School:

Be sure to take advantage of the Box Tops for Education program with General Mills© and Dollar General®. Look for the Box Tops logo on specially marked items.

Below is more info on how to earn Box Tops for your school through their new mobile app. 

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Who wants a Cereal Bar? *raises hand*

I thought it would be cute to wrap the bars in little paper bags sealed with a sticker. Place them in your children's lunch boxes for a guaranteed smile.

More Tips + Ideas for making No Bake Cereal Bars

• To keep the bars fresh, store in an air tight container. You can also wrap them individually with plastic wrap.
• Lucky Charm's house? We got you. To make a fun twist on this recipe, replace the dried fruit and nuts with pretty sprinkles. Swap the brown sugar for white sugar because this will give the bars a lighter color. Boom. Magically delicious.
• Drizzle (or dip) with melted chocolate or colored candy melts if you are serving for dessert.
• Each batch of this recipe for cereal bars makes 16 bars. Cut into smaller pieces for little children with little hands.
• Not a fan of peanut butter? Try this recipe with almond butter instead. Soooooooo good.
• Stir in coconut flakes and the bars will have more texture and natural sweetness.
• You can use light corn syrup in place of honey if preferred.

Want more ideas for Sweet Treats?

Easy Cherry Cake

Blueberry Cheesecake Dessert Pizza

Mint Chocolate Chip No Bake Dessert

S'mores Cupcakes

What do you think about these cereal bars? We hope you and your family enjoy them. Grab the complete recipe and instructions at the bottom of this post. And leave us a comment because we'd love to hear from you. 🙂

Don’t forget to download the Box Tops for Education app to earn for your school and the Dollar General® Literacy Foundation! 

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📖 Recipe