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.
I’ve never made homemade cereal bars before. I can’t believe how easy these look to make. I’m bookmarking this recipe for later, thanks!
I am impressed on how easy this is, thanks for the idea #client
Cranberry and Pistachio in the same recipe? I am all over this! Those are two of my favorite flavors together.
Wow Anne, those look delicious! I love pistachios and they must be great in these bars. Thanks for the idea.
These look delicious. Perfect healthy start to a morning or a snack. I will be making some of these after the holidays.
These sound healthy and perfect for hubby’s snacks!
These cereal bars look tasty! I love cranberries and pistachios!
Those look amazing! I love cranberries and pistachios, and can’t wait to try them.
These look so good! So festive and great flavor combinations.
These look delicious and I love the flavor combination. I think these will be a great addition to my kid’s lunchboxes. Thanks!
Easy? Delicious? Sign me up for that. 🙂
Yum, they look delicious and super healthy too! Need this for when I start my New Year’s Resolutions 🙂
They sound so yummy. I can imagine any college kid coming home to enjoy these.
I love the red and green in these cereal bars. So fun!
Those look super easy to make. Thanks.
I love cranberries and nuts in recipes – but I’ve never done cranberry pistachio – which sounds awesome. I will definitely make these! Thanks for sharing!
These bars look really yummy, I am going to have to make them!
Mmmm.. It looks like trail mix in bar form. Perfectly portable 🙂
I need to make some of these. They are healthy and they sound yummy.
What a fabulous idea! I would have never thought to do this!