Easy Easy No Baking

Once a week my grandmother would go to the salon to get her hair done. Almost weekly she would come home with a new recipe to try. This led me to believe that most salons just are a place for older ladies to get together and exchange recipes. I'm sure they talk about family and such things, but the recipe exchange is probably the highlight of that social event. Some of the recipes were amazing and some were not good enough to have a second time. The recipe for Easy Easy No Baking (also known as Special K Bars and Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars) is one of the amazing recipes that she acquired during her time at the salon.

As the name states, this recipe is easy to make and requires no baking. The most difficult part of the recipe is the frosting, which is melted chocolate chips. The bars taste wonderful and I haven't met a person yet who hasn't enjoyed them.

Easy Easy No Baking (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
3 C Special K cereal
3/4 C Plain or Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 t Vanilla
1/2 C Granulated Sugar
1/2 C White Syrup (such as Karo Syrup)

You will need a stove, a small sauce pan, a large mixing bowl, a glass pan (I used a 8x11 pan), and a spoon. I also recommend having a sink full of hot soapy water. Once you are finished with a bowl or pan, place it in the sink and let it soak. This will save you time when washing dishes since some of the ingredients harden.

Pour the cereal into the mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the cereal and place the peanut butter in the center. Set this aside.

Mix the sugar and white syrup in the small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until it just reaches a boil; the sugar mixture will remain cloudy and start to quickly bubble. Once boiling, remove from heat, add the vanilla, and stir a few times. Adding the vanilla will cause the sugar mixture to bubble rapidly (sorry, no picture! I needed to use 2 hands at that point). Pour the sugar mixture over the peanut butter in the mixing bowl. Mix the sugar mixture, peanut butter, and cereal together until well blended. Place the cereal mixture into the glass pan.

You can either press the mixture down right away or let it chill a few minutes before pressing it down. Place the pan in the refrigerator. Use this time to wash the dishes you've accumulated (you need to use the small sauce pan in the next step).

Frosting:
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch chips

Place the chips in a small sauce pan. Heat the chips over LOW HEAT. You must use one of the lowest heat settings or your frosting mixture will most likely burn. The melting process can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient. At first, stir the mixture occasionally. Once the chips start to melt it will be kind of gross looking and a bit difficult to stir. After a few minutes the mixture will become creamier. At this point, you must start mixing constantly or the chocolate mixture will burn to the bottom of the pan. Once the melted chocolate mixture is smooth, remove it from the heat.

Take the cereal mixture out of the refrigerator and frost it with the chocolate mixture. Return the finished creation to the refrigerator until well chilled. This should take an hour or so, depending on the temperature of your refrigerator. You can also place it in the freezer if you are in a hurry.

Once the entire creation is chilled, cut it into bars using a warm sharp knife. Place the bars in a tightly sealing container and keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve them.

Approximate Nutrition Information (for each bar when batch is cut into 20 bars): 183 calories, 10 g fat, 3 protein, 23.5 g carbs, 92 mg sodium