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My Honey Nut Cereal Bars are So Good!
Whenever I make these Honey Nut Cereal Bars, I feel like the best parent ever. My kids love them that much! Made with their favorite cereal, this no-bake cereal bar recipe is super simple, requires no baking, and calls for less than 10 ingredients.
These salty-sweet Cheerios cereal bars are the kind of snack packaged bars wish they could be!
They’re so flavorful for honey, butter, and cinnamon and nicely crunchy from almonds, cashews, and cereal. One of the best parts about these honey nut cereal bars is that they don’t need the oven. All you have to do is press the cereal mixture into a pan and let it set in the freezer before slicing!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dark brown sugar: This has more of a molasses-y flavor than light brown sugar, but either would work fine.
- Butter: I like to use unsalted butter so I can control the final amount of salt in the recipe.
- Honey: You could use maple syrup or agave instead.
- Cinnamon: I think cinnamon, honey, and butter are such a perfect combination.
- Lemon juice: This just adds brightness and enhances the other flavors!
- Cheerios cereal: You can use regular or honey Cheerios. Or you could use Rice Krispies instead of the Cheerios.
- Cashews and almonds: I like to buy pre-toasted and unsalted nuts!
Popular Additions
- Make it nuttier with a nut butter. Mix peanut butter or almond butter into the sugar-butter mixture.
- Add chocolate chips. I’d recommend mini chocolate chips since they’d be easier to chew!
- Top with flakey salt. These healthy cereal bars are the perfect salty-sweet snack. Sometimes, I like to top them with flakey salt for an extra pop of flavor!
How to Make Honey Nut Cereal Bars
My Best Honey Cereal Bars Tips
- Substitute the cashews and almonds for any combination of nuts. I love how creamy cashews taste and how crunchy almonds are, but pecans, peanuts, walnuts, or hazelnuts would also be great.
- Make them sweeter by using Honey Nut Cheerios. I think these bars are sweet enough with regular Cheerios, but this recipe works great with the honey nut kind as well!
- Make the bars thicker by using an 8″ x 8″ baking pan. Otherwise, a 9″ x 9″ pan works great.
- Apply gentle pressure when packing the mixture into the pan. You want to press down so it’s packed and keeps its shape!
Recipe Help & Common Questions
Store the cereal bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To prevent them from sticking together, place parchment paper between the layers. If you prefer firmer bars, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Just let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes before eating if they’re too hard to bite into right out of the fridge. For longer storage, freeze the bars in a single layer on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container with parchment between the layers. They’ll keep for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge before eating.
This usually happens if the sugar mixture wasn’t cooked long enough or if the bars weren’t pressed down firmly enough in the pan. Make sure to boil the sugar mixture for the full 4 minutes to let it thicken, and really press the mixture into the pan to remove air pockets. A second layer of parchment and using your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup to compress the mixture can help.
If your bars are sticky, the sugar mixture may not have boiled long enough to fully thicken. Double-check your timing, and make sure the mixture reaches a low boil for the full 4 minutes. Also, chilling the bars for at least 30 minutes in the freezer will help them set properly.
More Bars Recipes:
- Caramel Apple Granola Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Vegan Protein Bars
- No Bake Cookie Dough Bars
- Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Easy Pumpkin Bars
- Puffed Rice Krispie Treats
These cereal bars are great for kids! Be sure to check out my other kids’ breakfast ideas!
If you try this feel good Honey Cereal Bars recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
This Honey Cereal bar recipe was originally published on October 4, 2020 and has recently been updated with a slightly modified recipe that uses brown sugar and butter for a bar that holds up better. It also includes new photography, step-by-step images, recipe tips, and ingredient substitutions to help make the recipe. If you loved the original recipe, you can find it in the notes section of the recipe card below.
Honey Nut Cereal Bars
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 cups Cheerios cereal
- ½ cup roasted unsalted cashews roughly chopped
- ½ cup dry roasted unsalted almonds roughly chopped
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a heavy bottomed small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, honey, cinnamon and salt.
- Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Keep at a low boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Then remove from heat, add the lemon juice and stir to blend.
- Combine cereal and nuts in a large bowl.
- Pour the sugar mixture on top of the cereal and nuts mixture. Stir well to thoroughly combine.
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Press down firmly with the spatula to compress any air space out of the mixture. You can also place another piece of parchment on top and press down firmly to compress everything.
- Chill the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 12 bars.
Notes
- Instead of coconut oil, you can use butter.
- Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup, but the honey adheres better.
4 cups Cheerios cereal
½ cup roasted unsalted cashews roughly chopped
½ cup roasted unsalted almonds roughly chopped
½ cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Grease and line an 8” x 8” baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment – crossed so they cover up all side of the pan.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine honey, coconut oil, and spices.
Bring to a boil over med-low heat. Add lemon juice and stir to blend. Keep at a low boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Then remove from heat and allow bubbling to settle.
Combine Cheerios and nuts in a large bowl.
Pour over the honey mixture. Stir to combine everything so all of the Cheerios are well coated.
Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Press down gently with the spatula to compress any air space out of the mixture. You can also place another piece of parchment on top and press down firmly to compress everything.
Chill bars in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 10-12 bars.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Mine fell apart if they weren’t eaten within 5 minutes of taking out of the freezer. We just ended up eating it like cereal and it was the best dang Honey Nut Cheerios I’ve ever eaten! I might repeat the recipe just to have as cereal again!
We also added coconut flakes to our bars! Yum!
Oh no!! I am sorry to hear that they all fell apart, I am going to do some testing on this recipe again to see what the issue is. So glad you were able to turn it around and make cereal though!
Do you grease the pan, then line it with parchment paper? Why is this done?
It helps the paper to stick, and also coats parts of the pan that might be exposed in the corners, etc. where the paper cannot reach.
Do you use cooking spray?
I did not, but you could use it.