If you love peanut butter and chocolate, then these No Bake Peanut Butter Chex Bars are just for you!
My kids love when I make these no bake bars. They honestly last two days at my house, if that! At least since they are super simple to make I don’t mind when they disappear so fast. 😉
Though if you can restrain yourself they will last a few days in an airtight container and you can even freeze them!
No bake recipes are one of my favorites to make. Most likely I already have the ingredients in the house and I do not have to wait near as long to indulge! No to mention they are normally pretty easy to whip up for a snack later in the day.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make No Bake Peanut Butter Chex Bars, you will need the following ingredients
- Rice Chex cereal
- Peanuts (we used cocktail peanuts)
- Brown sugar
- Light corn syrup
- Peanut butter, creamy
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Milk chocolate chips
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to make No Bake Peanut Butter Chex Bars
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix the cereal and peanuts in a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan stir together the brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal mixture. Toss carefully with a wooden spoon until all of the cereal is covered.
- Transfer the mixture into the prepared 9 x 13 inch pan and press down gently. Cool for about 20 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave stirring every 20 seconds until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle over the cooled bars. Let the chocolate cool.
- Cut into bars and enjoy!
Storage Suggestions
If you manage to have any leftover Bars + Brownies, these can store well if prepped appropriately. Once they have cooled completely, here is how you can store it:
- Counter: Store bars and brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If your kitchen is particularly warm, consider refrigerating instead to prevent them from getting too soft or melty.
- Refrigerator: Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Let them come to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor.
Enjoy More Delicious Bar Recipes
There’s nothing better than an easy brownie or bar recipe. Check out our comprehensive list of brownies, bars, and blondies here
- Gooey Golden Grahams S’mores Treats
- Congo Bars
- Frosted Graham Cracker Bars
- Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars
No Bake Peanut Butter Chex Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups Rice Chex Cereal
- 1 ½ cups peanuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup peanut butter (creamy)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix the cereal and peanuts in a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan stir together the brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal mixture. Toss carefully with a wooden spoon until all of the cereal is covered.
- Transfer the mixture into the prepared 9 x 13 inch pan and press down gently. Cool for about 20 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave stirring every 20 seconds until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle over the cooled bars. Let the chocolate cool.
- Cut into bars and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Hi,
I just made the peanut butter chex bars.
It is Saturday and I am not serving them until Wednesday night.
What is the best way to store them?
You may want to freeze them in an airtight container if you are not serving them until 4 days after making.
How can I make this recipe work for a sheetcake? Would I double it?
Thanks
Ashlee
You can easily double this recipe. If they are slightly thinner because the pan is so large, that is still fine. They are so easy and delicious!
Any suggestions for a substitute for the 1 cup of corn syrup? Or maybe a way to add less and substitute something else? Thanks!
Here is a link you can read about substitutions for corn syrup. http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/cooking-questions/substitute-for-corn-syrup
These are delicious! I didn’t have milk chocolate so I used semi-sweet. They are gooey and delectable. Thank you!
Do you think I could substitute Rice Krispies for the Chex?
I’m sure Rice Krispies would work in this recipe too.
Dry roasted peanuts or cocktail peanuts?
Either will work, but we used cocktail peanuts.
If i only have crunchy PB what should i do about adding peanuts
You could still add the same amount of peanuts or you could also cut back a little too.
I only had 4 cups of Rice Chex cereal so I used 2 cups of Rice Krispies with the Chex. It worked perfectly together!
Great! Thanks for sharing your substitutions with everyone. During this pandemic we all have to make a few tweaks with recipes! Have a great weekend.
Yum–we had wonky ingredients–used dark karo syrup and honey and semi-sweet chocolate chips–still turned out super delicious! Kids loved helping make it. Thanks!
Needed to do some baking today but with the unprecedented heat (should be around 70F and atm its 87F) there was no way I was going to put the oven on! Decided to give these a try although with some substitutions…instead of Chex cereal all I had in the house was chocolate Life cereal and no peanuts so I just tossed in some coconut in place of them. Have to make do with what’s in the house on the day before grocery shopping lol. These actually turned out so good and sweet I didn’t even bother with the chocolate drizzle since the cereal was already chocolate. These are soo yummy, I can see myself making them fairly often during the summer – and the rest of the year too!
Ooops forgot to rate the recipe lol
Hi Jane. So glad you liked these easy no bake Chex bars. Your substitutions sounds delicious!
Seemed like it needed more cereal. I measured cereal just to rim of measuring cup. Next time I’ll over pour. Added Mini M&M’s instead of peanuts, but added them after cereal all stirred in.
This was so good! I’m very thankful you shared it. I didn’t have peanuts so I used broken up pretzel rods. Lol. It turned out to be really good. My husband thinks he actually likes it better.
Thanks for sharing. We’ll have to try it with pretzels.
I am wondering if any one has tried it with corn chex…? That is what I have on my shelf.
I think corn chex will work great too!
Quick and easy recipe, delicious end result! It reminds me of a Payday candy bar. I used Chocolate Chex cereal and added pretzels, peanuts and chunks of Reese’s Pretzel Cup peanut butter cups. I did not add the chocolate drizzle on top because I added the Reese’s in the bar mixture. Versatile recipe, easy to adapt to what you have on hand. I had a game challenge today to use up 21 items in the pantry. This recipe helped me use up 5 ingredients toward my challenge, yay! Thank you for the great recipe. It is a keeper!
I made these yesterday and they were incredible. I hate super sweet desserts and this had just the right amount of sweetness, but the star of the show is the texture of the bar. It’s soft – chewy – crispy everything you would want!
This turned out great!! I’m a good cook but not a good baker at all. My husband likes sweets and he loved these! I’m glad because I can tell he only pretends to like other things I make because he eats one and doesn’t go back. But he ate several of these. I’m very happy. I made it exactly as the recipe says. Thank you for sharing!!
Love this easy gluten free recipe! It has become e a family favorite and is a hit anywhere we bring it. It’s so easy, I even whip it up while wet are camping.