Peanut Butter Cereal Bars with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

One of my favorite desserts growing up was Special K bars. I loved to gooey peanut butter and the crunch of the cereal with the chocolate topping. It was one of the first recipes that I memorized and could make at any time. I, of course, followed the recipe on the back of the cereal box. My Granny used a different recipe and while it was tasty, I never liked it as much as My recipe. Then, at some point in middle or high school, I started having problems with the recipe; it was too hard or the frosting didn’t turn out. At that point in my life, I didn’t have the knowledge or the extensive internet available to solve these issues, so I just stopped making the bars completely.  

Fast forward to current times. I pulled out my Granny’s recipe for this project. The first two attempts at this recipe did not work out for one reason or another, but third-time’s a charm. While these did not turn out anything like my Granny’s cereal bars, or the Special K bars from my youth, they are close approximations, and honestly when there is a dessert that is this easy to make, why would you buy them at the grocery store for exorbitant prices.

My fails and how to avoid them:

• The cereal is pointy and sharp OR it doesn’t hold its shape at all.

1. • For the first batch I used a gluten free corn flake, to be as accurate to the recipe as possible. Gluten-Free corn flakes are not a good substitution for gluten filled corn flakes (yes, corn flakes in the regular cereal aisle have gluten in them). They have a decent texture for your breakfast when paired with a milk or milk substitute, but without the liquid to soften them, gluten free corn flakes are a danger to your gums.  
   • For batch two I used Rice Chex. They have a good flavor and won’t cut up your gums. Downside is they do not hold their structure when spreading the mixture in the pan. If you are looking for very dense bars, these would actually be a really good option.
   • I found that the best cereal for the bars is ½ Rice Chex and ½ Corn Chex. The rice will collapse when the mixture is put in the pan, but the corn Chex will keep its shape.

• The bars are hard, not gooo-ey

1. • I did this the first two times. It was because I used my very nice enamel coated cast iron pot. Don’t do this. It retains the heat and this is usually bad when working with sugar. You are really looking for a soft-ball or slightly less set than this for the sugar mixture, so you want a pot that will cool down quickly after you turn off the heat and not continue to cook the sugar.   

• The frosting doesn’t work out.

• • EVERY single time I make a chocolate frosting for bars it seizes or splits. You really don’t want to use either of these as they taste a bit odd and the texture is just bad. Instead of working to figure out how to make my grandmother’s frosting, I gave up and made a ganache. I will never make another chocolate frosting again. It was fantastic in so many ways. It was easy to make, you can control the thickness of the frosting by putting in more or less chocolate, it can be whipped to make a light and fluffy cake frosting, it can be kept in the fridge and used as hot fudge for ice cream. Also, it tasted delicious with the peanut butter cereal bars.