Who knew? Cheerio Bars

I spent yesterday doing some baking.  Our daughter Kalissa is having a birthday bash tonight and I thought I’d make some goodies.  My son Buck who lives 2 hours away happened to call while I was baking.  He asked what I was up to so I told him I made and frosted 3 cakes, a pan of Revel Bars, taco meat and a pan of Cheerio bars….He said, “Oh mom.  Save me some Cheerio Bars or better yet, make an extra pan of them.”

Then he proceeded to tell me that I make the best been Cheerio Bars.  He’s had other people’s Cheerio Bars but mine are the best.  Then he said that Cheerio Bars are one of the things he misses most about living at home….

WHAT?  Cheerio Bars!!  I make homemade bread, homemade donuts,  homemade cinnamon rolls, pies, cookies, cakes, bars and cook almost everything from scratch.  My children ate very little mac and cheese, frozen pizza and never any hamburger helper and the thing he missed most was Cheerio Bars?!   WOW!!

Then Kalissa came home and said, “Oh mom…you made Cheerio Bars.”  Then she gave me the HUGEST hug….Cheerio Bars?  Really?

Cheerio bars used to be a very regular snack around here when I did childcare.  The kids all loved them.  I made them because they were a treat and being they were made from cereal, I tried to tell myself they were a healthier option than cookies….So here’s the secret recipe……(honestly there isn’t anything secret about it)

Put one 16 ounces bag of marshmallows and one stick of margarine in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave it for 2 minutes.  Watch that the marshmallows don’t puff out and come over the edge of the bowl.  Stir.  Add 1 cup of peanut butter.  Creamy is preferred but crunchy will work too.  Microwave for about 1.5 minutes.  Take out and stir.  Stir until the mix is smooth with not lumps and the marshmallows are all melted.  You may need to microwave it a bit longer depending on the wattage on your microwave.  Add about 11 ounces of cereal…(this is a guess number.  I know I used just a little less than a 12 ounce box of Cheerios)  Stir.  Put it all in a 9 x 13 pan that has been greased.  Let sit a bit and WA-LA….you have Cheerio bars.

Now for the secret…I usually use generic Cheerios.  In the photo above I happened to use multi-grain Cheerios.  I’ve used honey nut cheerios too.

After the comments from the kids…I am hiding the Cheerio bars until tonight or there won’t be any left!…yes, apparently I missed Cheerio bars too.  That smidgen out of the corner was me…in my defense, I was trying to figure out why the kids think they are so great…now I remember.

Check out more sweets at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.