If you love homemade cereal bars but avoid making them because they are such a pain, your life is about to change forever.
Say goodbye to the rush of stuffing sticky cereal pieces into a baking dish before it cools.
No longer will you need to soak away a 1/4 of the gooey mixture left behind on the spoon and pot.
Grab a 9×13 baking pan (preferably metal) and your favorite cereal, and let’s get into it.
Grease your baking pan
Add the following ingredients in this order:
6 tbsp butter cut into 6 pats
a splash of vanilla
10 oz bag of mini marshmallows
Almost 12 oz of cereal of any kind
Top off the baking pan with cereal and level it out.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 12 minutes, slightly stir the top layer of cereal halfway through to avoid any pieces getting too browned.
Carefully stir the mixture continuously until the marshmallow goo starts to coat the cereal in a thick layer. Stirring with two large spoons (like you’re tossing a salad) works really well because you can work the mixture in from the sides.
Press the mixture into the pan with a layer of parchment paper, but be careful not to touch the pan!
Place the pan on a cooling rack until completely cooled. You can speed up this process by placing the pan in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes, and then put it back on the cooling rack to finish cooling. That little bit of extreme cold will drop the temperature of you pan really quickly to help things along. DO NOT PUT PAN IN FRIDGE OR FREEZER IF YOU ARE USING A GLASS BAKING DISH. IT CAN SHATTER DUE TO THE EXTREME TEMPERATURE CHANGE.
Here are some very important tips based on comments I’ve received on this recipe:
Cereal bars can taste stale if the mixture stays hot for too long. You can avoid this by using a metal baking pan because it will cool down much faster than glass.
Some people report greasing the pan, adding everything but the cereal, baking just until marshmallows are melted (this will happen in just a few minutes) and THEN adding the cereal. This is a viable option, and still so much easier than the stovetop method.
If you stir the mixture just until mixed and walk away, the marshmallow goo can sink to the bottom because it’s so hot coming out of the oven. You might end up with dry, brittle cereal on the top, and too much of a marshmallow layer on the bottom. This is not the results you are looking for, and it may make the bars stick to your pan. To avoid this, keep stirring until the mixture cools slightly and coats the cereal pieces well.
If you forget to grease your pan, the cereal bars will stick.
One Pan Cereal Bars
Make homemade cereal bars without the usual mess using this easy one-pan method that saves time and makes cleanup a breeze.
Ingredients
- Grease your baking pan
- Add the following ingredients in this order:
- 6 tbsp butter cut into 6 pats
- a splash of vanilla
- 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows
- Almost 12 oz of cereal of any kind
- Top off the baking pan with cereal and level it out.
Instructions
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 12 minutes, slightly stir the top layer of cereal halfway through to avoid any pieces getting too browned.
Carefully stir the mixture continuously until the marshmallow goo starts to coat the cereal in a thick layer. Stirring with two large spoons (like you're tossing a salad) works really well because you can work the mixture in from the sides.
Press the mixture into the pan with a layer of parchment paper, but be careful not to touch the pan!
Place the pan on a cooling rack until completely cooled. You can speed up this process by placing the pan in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes, and then put it back on the cooling rack to finish cooling. That little bit of extreme cold will drop the temperature of you pan really quickly to help things along. DO NOT PUT PAN IN FRIDGE OR FREEZER IF YOU ARE USING A GLASS BAKING DISH. IT CAN SHATTER DUE TO THE EXTREME TEMPERATURE CHANGE.
Notes
Here are some very important tips based on comments I've received on this recipe:
Cereal bars can taste stale if the mixture stays hot for too long. You can avoid this by using a metal baking pan because it will cool down much faster than glass.
Some people report greasing the pan, adding everything but the cereal, baking just until marshmallows are melted (this will happen in just a few minutes) and THEN adding the cereal. This is a viable option, and still so much easier than the stovetop method.
If you stir the mixture just until mixed and walk away, the marshmallow goo can sink to the bottom because it's so hot coming out of the oven. You might end up with dry, brittle cereal on the top, and too much of a marshmallow layer on the bottom. This is not the results you are looking for, and it may make the bars stick to your pan. To avoid this, keep stirring until the mixture cools slightly and coats the cereal pieces well.
If you forget to grease your pan, the cereal bars will stick.
