Corn Flake Peanut Butter Squares
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2 cups corn flake cereal
1 cup crisped rice cereal (e.g., Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice cereal)
pinch salt
1. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine, and vanilla. Heat on high in microwave just until ingredients melt (1 to 2 minutes). Don't let the mixture boil.
2. In another bowl, combine corn flake cereal, crisped rice cereal, and salt.
3. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal and mix well. Pour the mixture into a greased 8" x 8" pan and pack it down.
4. Refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours (if you can!).
Variation: Add in 1/2 cup coconut flakes and 3/4 cup raisins with the cereal.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
You could use just about any kind of cereal for this. I used toasted O's, some kind of flake cereal and krispy rice. I substituted light agave nectar for the corn syrup. Incredible flavor! I almost added the salt to the stovetop ingredients but thought I would try adding it to the cereal like the recipe said. I'm glad I did. You can taste the little specks of salt w/ the sweet. Oh, and I added raisins and chopped almonds.
I have it in the freezer so it won't take as long to set. I hope it sets - otherwise I'm just going to eat it w/ a spoon.
hooked
Oh, my bad, I forgot to mention that I actually didnt use corn flakes at all - I used an entire box of Kashi 7 puffed grain cereal. Try it, you'll like it ;)
I made mine on the stovetop and used brown rice syrup instead of the corn syrup, and added a 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut. To say the least, its absolutely marvelous. ;D -applauds- Thanks for the recipe :-*
After noticing a lot of the comments about the fat of this recipe and cringing myself at
the corn syrup, I took some time to do calculations including some alternatives and all
organic ingredients. So here's a pretty detailed break-down:
Brown Sugar (1/2 cup):
$.89
360 cal
0g fat
Brown Rice Syrup (1/2 cup):
$.86
600 cal
0g fat
Margarine,Earth Balance (1/4 cup):
$.45
320 cal
36g fat (11 sat, 0 trans, 13 poly, 12 mono)
Peanut Butter (1 cup):
$2.20
1520 cal
120 grams fat (26 sat, 0 trans, 40 poly, 54 mono)
Multigrain flakes (2 cups):
$.75
320 cal
4g fat (0 sat, 0 trans, 1 1/3 poly, 2 2/3 mono)
Crispy Brown Rice Cereal (2 cups):
$.90
220 cal
0 fat
TOTAL:
$6.05
3340 cal
160g fat (37 sat, 0 trans, 54 1/3 poly, 68 2/3 mono)
Per Square (16):
$.38
209 cal
10g fat (2 1/3 sat, 0 trans, 3 1/3 poly, 4 1/3 mono)
Daily recommendations:
2000 cal
65g fat (less that 20 sat, 0 trans, poly and mono are GOOD fats)
I added more rice cereal because it really was too liquidy for that amount of cereal. You might want to cut down the peanut butter and margarine instead. It IS super peanutty, so it won't hurt. Your end result would be $.29, 144 cal, 6 1/4g fat. It's a pretty yummy, quick, cheap, versatile and relatively healthy bar.