There has never been a time where our pantry has not had one or two boxes of Cheerios in it! I prefer the original, while my kids and husband are Honey Nut Cheerios fans. Like most families, we have grown up with them and they will always be a part of our breakfast routine.
With school starting next week, I have been trying to think of some delicious and healthy snacks for my little one to bring in her lunch. We have a strict no-nut policy in her classroom, so my wheels started turning and I came up with this yummy take on my favorite granola bar featuring Cheerios. You can get as creative as you’d like with these, which makes it even more fun for your kids to help pick and choose what goes in. We used original Cheerios, but you can use any variety you’d like such as Honey Nut, Banana Nut, Frosted, Multi-Grain, Multi-Grain Peanut Butter, or Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. Best part about these, they are no-bake. Easy peasy all day long!
So here is what you’ll need:
Cheerios Fruity Snack Bars
- 4 cups of Cheerios
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 1/4 cup Agave or Honey
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 cup Craisins
- 1/4 cup Coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup Dried Apples, chopped
In a medium pan, melt butter and then add honey or agave, salt and brown sugar. Stir well and let come to a boil. Boil for a couple minutes, but keep an eye on the pot. You don’t want it to boil over, so you may need to lower the heat a bit.
Once it has boiled for a couple minutes, take it off the heat and add vanilla. Give it a good stir. Reserve and let cool. It will get thicker, so waiting about 5 minutes will be ideal.
In a mixing bowl, combine Cheerios, craisins, coconut and dried apples. Add cooled butter/honey mixture and mix well. Spray a baking pan (9×13 or smaller) with coconut oil spray and firmly press down the Cheerios mixture. Place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes then cut to your desired size.
How simple is that? You have a delicious treat for an after school snack or even for a quick breakfast on the go. You can even mix it up with a variety of Cheerios flavors. But wait-there’s more! I have some great news ~ there is a BOGO coupon from Publix you can print for Cheerios! Simply print out this coupon and your family can try all the flavors Cheerios has to offer. Be sure to check out these awesomely delicious recipes featuring Cheerios to help you take those yummy O’s to the next level. Thanks to Cheerios and Publix, one of my fabulous lucky readers will win $10 Pay Pal cash to help buy all those BOGO Cheerios!
Good luck!
– Amanda
