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These no bake cereal bars are a great snack for kids of all ages! Made with my kids’ favorite cereal, Cheerios, these honey nut bars are super simple to make and are a healthier way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
How to make honey nut cereal bars
Tips For Making the Best Honey Cereal Bars
- Substitute the cashews for any combination of nuts. Cashews are a perfect fit because they have a creamy quality. Pecans, peanuts, walnuts, or hazelnuts would also be great.
- Make them sweeter by using Honey Nut Cheerios. I feel that they are sweet enough as they are with the Cheerios, but it works great with the honey nut kind as well!
- Make the bars thinner by using a 9″ x 9″ baking pan. Otherwise, the 8″ x 8″ pan works great for having bars similar thickness to granola bars
- Apply gentle pressure when packing the mixture into the pan. You want to press down so they are packed, but if you press down too hard, it will break up the mixture.
Frequently Asked Questions
These bars will keep well for up to a week at room temperature when stored in an airtight container. You can extend the shelf life a little by keeping them refrigerated, but take them out 10 minutes before enjoying them so that they are nice and soft.
To freeze the bars for up to two months, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer bag. You can defrost the bars individually at room temperature in around 30 minutes.
Yes, you can easily make these bars plant based by substituting the honey for maple syrup. They hold better together with the honey though.
More bars to try:
- Caramel Apple Granola Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Vegan Protein Bars
- No Bake Cookie Dough Bars
- Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Easy Pumpkin Bars
These cereal bars are great for kids! Be sure to check out my other kids’ breakfast ideas!
If you’ve tried this feel good Honey Nut Cereal Bars recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my 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.. 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.