Peanut Butter Goodness

I've been in a cookie baking frenzy lately and it needs to stop. I ran out of flour yesterday and almost went into a panic. I started googling cake mix cookie recipes so I could keep the almost daily baking streak alive. This is not good for my waistline.

So when I came across this recipe from The Farm Chicks via this post from Amy Clark at MomAdvice I was very happy. It meant I didn't have to stop cold turkey. I can wean myself slowly off of my baking binge with a no bake recipe. One step at a time, right?

I love the basic concept and how easy it is to throw together. I made a half batch using Barbara's Cinnamon Puffins cereal. I really really liked the cinnamon, honey, peanut butter flavor combo. I found them to be quite sweet and will try reducing the sugar/honey next time. Oh, I also threw in a handful of peanuts and a handful of oats. The oats blended right in so next time I'll throw in a few more and maybe some wheat germ or something.

Here's basically how I made them:

Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 cup peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's natural, salted pb)
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 cups Barbara's Cinnamon Puffins cereal, lightly crushed so the pieces are smaller
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup peanuts

Put the peanut butter, sugar, and honey in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 30-45 seconds, or until mixture is stirs together easily. Pour over cereal/oat/peanut mixture and stir until well combined. Press into 9x9 pan and chill until set. Keep refrigerated.

Thanks MomAdvice and The Farm Chicks!

UPDATE: I think I have perfected my recipe. For the less sweet version that I have made more times than I am willing to admit, use this:

Emily's Peanut Butter Goodness

3 cups Barbara's Cinnamon Puffins cereal, lightly crushed so the pieces are smaller
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup wheat germ or oat bran
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's natural, salted pb)
1/2 cup honey

Put the peanut butter and honey in a microwave safe bowl (I use my glass liquid measuring cup). Microwave 30-45 seconds, or until mixture is stirs together easily. Pour over cereal/oat/wheat germ mixture and stir until well combined. Press into 9x9 pan and chill until set. Keep refrigerated.

Another Update: I am contributing this to the MomAdvice Notebook Experiment Project (I might have just made up that title, but you get the idea) here.