Thanks to General Mills for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
This is part 2 of my Bonus Box Tops for Education series (you can check out part 1 here).
Get ready for a fun twist on cereal bars with these chocolatey, peanut buttery treats!
Walmart is currently running a campaign featuring Bonus Box Tops on select General Mills products. Each of these packages offer 5 points instead of 1 – that’s $0.50 per package to go toward a school you love.
So on our shopping trip, my son and I were playing “find the 5s” to find products that would earn us extra money for our local school district.
One of the first items we spotted was Reese’s Puffs cereal. I mean, who doesn’t love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? But in cereal form?! This sounded like pure heaven, so we snatched some up right away.
I told my son that we would be using the chocolate peanut butter cereal to make a special treat for his friends (the “big kids” who live a few doors down from us). He looks up to them so much, and he can’t wait to start going to school with them.
I told him that he still has to wait one more year to start school, but that we could do something to help the school that he’ll be attending all too soon by clipping off the 5s and giving them to his buddies to bring to school, along with these tasty, homemade snacks.
My son took so much pride in the fact that he got to help make these cereal bars for his friends. He practically had his step stool set up in the kitchen before I even got the grocery bags unpacked. He loves to help out, and he looooves to QC the individual ingredients, too. 😉
After he was done taste testing the cereal and marshmallows, he got to work melting the butter, marshmallows, vanilla and salt into an edible glue. He was super excited to see the transformation take place. It took several minutes, but he was very interested in the process.
I mean, seriously, 3-year-olds can have a surprising amount of patience when it comes to certain things. Other, less edible things, not so much.
I took over to stir the cereal into the marshmallow mixture, and he helped press it into the pan. I took care of the white chocolate and peanut butter drizzle while he was busy playing in the other room, because that part was going to potentially get messy. Don’t worry, he got to lick the bowl!
These bars are best when refrigerated, since it allows the marshmallow, chocolate and peanut butter to firm up a bit. They turned out absolutely delicious. A bit messy, but oh so worth it.
After we were done making sure the bars were tasty enough to share with the neighbor kids, I packed some up in a box with wax paper to separate the layers. I put all of our Bonus Box Tops in a bag and attached it to the box, and we set off to deliver the goodies!
My son took off with the biggest smile on his face. He was so excited to bring this tastiness to his buddies.
When we got there, he told his friend that we made some treats for him and his brothers to enjoy and that we had some Box Tops for them to take when they head back to school.
He made sure to let them know that he cooked the treats, that they were “very tasty”, and that we saved a few for ourselves at home.
He also made a point to let them know that we had to use the whole bag of marshmallows for them, and that he really wanted to eat more of the marshmallows, but that I wouldn’t let him. Ha!
My son notices Box Tops on packages at the store now, and has made the connection that the points can help his friends’ schools. And he still insists that he will be going to school soon, too. It’ll be great for him to see what types of things his school buys with Box Tops once he’s in his own classroom next year.
Pardon me while I hyperventilate thinking about my baby starting school. Gah! I think I may need to make another batch of these beauties to help me cope with how fast he’s growing up. 😉
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Get ready for a fun twist on cereal bars with these chocolatey, peanut buttery treats!
Ingredients
For bars:
- Cooking spray
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 (10 ounce) bag marshmallows
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups Reese’s Puffs cereal
For topping:
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons milk, as needed
Instructions
- For bars: Coat 13×9″ pan with cooking spray. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows, salt and vanilla and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until completely melted.
- Remove marshmallow mixture from heat and add stir in cereal until well coated. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan. (Use a silicone spatula or wax paper to prevent the marshmallow from sticking to your hands)
- For topping: Pour white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until fully melted and smooth, stirring after every 30 seconds. Drizzle melted chocolate over bars (I used a fork, drizzling the chocolate from a few inches above the bars for a more even coating).
- In another bowl, mix together the butter and peanut butter. Add powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition. Once well mixed, add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is smooth enough to drizzle. Drizzle over bars.
- Cover pan and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Original Recipe by Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen – Ashley Covelli
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.
