Growing up, Honey Nut Cheerios were a pantry and breakfast table staple.
I recently bought an economy-sized box that was on sale and needed to make something with them or else we were going to be eating them until Christmas.
These fast, easy, bars cost just a fraction of storebought bars to make, they’re healthier, and they’ve got fun, bright colors.
In the past I’ve used Golden Grahams, Special K, Chex, Rice Krispies and many others in recipes, but never the classic O’s until these.
I have many other microwave and no-bake granola bar recipes. See the Related Recipes below. These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF) are my favorites for something that has the texture of a Quaker Chewy Granola Bar and are a cinch to make, while still staying in the healthy realm.
I wanted these to be a snack bar or breakfast bar, on the healthier side, while branching out from recipes I’ve already made or tried.
Normally I use corn syrup in my microwave bars because it’s cheap, and it makes an excellent glue to bind ingredients. Very little can escape it’s tacky grip.
However, for these I used honey to play up the honey flavor from the cereal. I will be honest, honey does not make as good of a glue as corn syrup. If I were to remake them, I’d use corn syrup.
At room temperature, the bars do get soft and loose, and you’ll need to store them in the fridge.
I stirred in raisins for extra texture, flavor, fiber, chewiness, and oomph. I know some people don’t like raisins, so feel free to omit them or use dried cranberries, apricots, or another dried fruit.
The recipe is very flexible and you could also stir in honey-roasted peanuts, sliced almonds, or a handful of your favorite trail mix.
I topped them with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, don’t buy them unless you have really good self-control. They’re crunchy, chocolaty, and one step away from eating chocolate candy-coated sprinkles. So good.
They give a fun, bright pop of color to otherwise boring brown bars, and since I knew I was putting these in my 6 year old’s lunch box, I wanted them to be cheery. If you can’t find them in your area, no biggie. Just use another small seed, nut, or omit.
Between the honey, cereal, raisins, and chocolate-covered seeds, the are were on the sweet side. A sprinkling of Kosher salt cuts that and plays up the salty-and-sweet aspect.
I wish the Cheerios I ate as a kid were this fun to look at.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
No-Bake Honey Nut Cheerios Snack Bars
Ingredients
- ¼ cup creamy unsalted butter, half of one stick
- ¼ cup honey, light-colored corn syrup may be substituted and will keep the bars firmer at room temp than using honey
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
- 1 cup raisins, optional (1 cup honey-roasted peanuts, 1 cup chopped almonds, or 1 cup trail mix may be substituted)
- about 1/2 cup chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, optional (I used Trader Joe’s)
- pinch sea salt or Kosher salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, honey, brown sugar, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt.
- Stop to stir. Mixture will be on the granular side, this is okay.
- Return bowl to microwave and heat for 1 more minute on high power. Stop to stir
- Return bowl to microwave and heat for 1 more minute on high power. Stop to stir. On this third and final burst, mixture will become quite bubbly and foamy; use caution when removing from micro because this is boiling hot caramel and can cause burns.
- Stir in the vanilla using caution because mixture could bubble up.
- Stir in the cereal.
- Stir in the optional raisins (or nuts).
- Turn mixture out into prepared pan, packing it down firmly with a spatula and smoothing the top.
- Optionally, sprinkle evenly with sunflower seeds and salt (the salt cuts some of the sweetness and I recommend it).
- Cover pan with a sheet of foil (to prevent fridge smells), and place pan in fridge to set up for at least 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, or until bars are completely set before lifting out with foil overhang, slicing, and serving.
- Bars will keep airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. I recommend storing them in the fridge rather than room temp because they soften and get loose.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Related Recipes
No-Bake Samoas Cookie Granola Bars (vegan, GF)
Snickerdoodle Cookie Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)
Sunflower Seed Butter Granola Bars with Chocolate Drizzle (no-bake, vegan, GF)
No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cereal Bars (GF)
Cinnamon Oatmeal Date Bars with Chocolate Chunks (no-bake, vegan, gluten-free) – (no-bake, vegan, GF) – Taste like cinnamon oatmeal
Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF) – Recipe from early 2010
Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola (vegan, GF)
Browned Butter Rice Krispies Treats (GF) – The best RKTs I have ever had. Double the butter and it’s browned, for great flavor and soft, buttery, chewy bars
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)
Are you a Cheerios or cereal fun?
I really like the valuable information you supply in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check here for interesting content regularly. I’m moderately sure I will be informed of a lot of new stuff in due time Good website.
I wasted so much money making these…😔
I got a big gooey mess and my kids won’t eat them. I must’ve done something wrong. 🤷♀️
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
Followed this recipe exactly. Kids loved it and the chocolate-covered sunflower seeds!
Glad the kids loved it!
Followed this recipe exactly. Kids loved it and the chocolate-covered sunflower seeds!
I’m doing a kindergarten no-bake class and I’m wondering if this could be done with 10 K kids in 45 minutes if I put in the freezer instead of fridge and cut at the last minute. Do you think they will harden up enough?
I really don’t know since I’ve only tried it the way I wrote it. I would test it out at home, no kids, and see what you think and if it’s do-able given all the parameters with the kids’ ages, the timing, etc.
Can you make these without the brown sugar? You mentioned they ended up on the sweet side, so I am wondering if I can cut the sugar so I can keep the chocolate :)
I haven’t tried them that way so can’t say for sure how things will turn out. LMK how it goes if you try it!
I’m going to switch few things to make the bars gfdf and a lot of other frees, but I think that replacing the honey with pureed medjool dates would solve the softening at room temperature issue. I’m going to try a 1/4-3/4 mix….and dark organic chocolate chunks to avoid the dyes, organic cranberries and blueberries… cashews! What a yummy recipe!! I can switch it around to accommodate the dietary restrictions in our house and still have grab’n’go healthier sweet snacks!
thank you!
Can I omit the granulated sugar?
I haven’t tried it that way so can’t say for sure how things will work out.
Can I replace the honey with agave nectar? How well do you think it would work?
You could try it but I haven’t personally tested it so cannot really comment.
Hi Averie! I tried these and they came out wonderful! They are a lot better than the store bought ones…and so easy and quick to make! Love it! :)
Thanks for trying this recipe, Monica, and glad you loved them and they came out wonderfully for you. That’s great to hear and as you said, homemade always trumps storebought :)
I made these last night with corn syrup so that they would hold together, but even this morning after they sat in the fridge they are still falling apart so bad, it’s not even a bar really. Now I just have a bunch of goopy cheerios :/ Any suggestions on next time making the bars more solid – and even better yet, what can I make out of these goopy cheerios because I hate wasting food?
You could pop the pan in the oven and bake them for 10 mins or so to help them set up – maybe that would work. Sorry that they didn’t set up for you!
Thanks Averie! Baking them once more didn’t help. I added lots of chocolate chips and baked again and they finally held! Don’t know what I did wrong :-/
Not sure without being there or seeing photos where things took a wrong turn for you – sorry!
My boys would love these-We will have to make them! Thanks for sharing :)
My brother loves honey nut cherries, he’d flip for these!
I’ve been totally digging no-bake stuff lately – it’s just so much simpler! And when it’s done like this, the results are just as, if not more, rewarding. Love those chocolate-covered sunflower seeds!!