I love healthy snacks, so I used breakfast cereal to make these tasty Cranberry Pistachio Cereal Bars for snacking.
This post was compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Quaker. All opinions are mine alone.
Both my daughters are home from college now for Winter break, and it is great to have them home. But we sure do go through more food when they are here!
They are constantly looking for snacks, and raiding the pantry. So I decided I need to stock up on snack ideas for them to munch on. My family doesn’t agree on much when it comes to food, but cereal is one thing we all love to eat, and it is great for snacks in addition to breakfast.
Originally I was going to use pecans in my cereal bar, but when I saw the pistachios I decided they would be perfect, and make the bars a seasonal red and green! Cereal bars are easy to make and involve no baking and very little time.
I combined the Oatmeal Squares cereal with some cranberries and pistachios in a big bowl. I broke up the cereal a little bit, because I wasn’t sure how well the big pieces would stick together in a bar. I just crumbled them up with my hands so they were all different sizes.
Then I made a syrup with butter, honey and brown sugar, and boiled it for a little while to thicken it. I poured the syrup over the cereal mixture, pressed it into a glass dish, and stuck it in the freezer to harden.
After about half an hour they were hardened, and ready to be cut into bars. My bars aren’t all perfect rectangles like the cereal bars you’d buy at the store, but they sure taste good!
My kids love the cereal bars, and they are great for feeding hungry college students.
Cranberry Pistachio Cereal Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cup Quaker Oatmeal Squares
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 4 Tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- Crush the cereal pieces slightly and mix with the cranberries and pistachios.1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup pistachios, 3 cup Quaker Oatmeal Squares
- Combine the butter, sugar and honey in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.4 Tablespoon butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup honey
- Spray an 8 x 8 glass casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Quickly pour the sugar syrup into the bowl with the cereal. Mix well, then press into the casserole dish. Use waxed paper to press down and flatten the mixture.
- Put the dish in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Cut it into bars.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
Cranberries, pistachios AND Quaker Oat Squares!!! You have my attention and appreciation for sharing this recipe 😉 I can’t wait to try it!
What a great snacking idea, and they look so easy to make. I’ll bet your kids were thrilled with the treat you whipped up for them!
Those look really good! Yumm!
Yum, yum, yum! I love pistachios and cranberries, too! I am like Mikey and like Life cereal. I think I might try it in this recipe.
My children love cranberries and would eat these cereal bars up! Thank so much for the recipe!
I would love for you to share this post {and others} at my Show Me Saturday linky party! Our next party will be this first Saturday of the new year. Hope to see you there!
~ Ashley
Oh YUM! I’ve been making more of our snacks lately instead of buying them. I’ll have to add this to my ‘must make’ list.