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Cereal Bars are easy to make treats that you can toss together in just 15 minutes! Corn Pops are held together in bar form with a buttery marshmallow mix. They’re chewy, sweet, crunchy, and so much fun!
I want to say that these are kid-friendly treats that are perfect for popping into lunch boxes… which is true. However, they’re also very much adult-friendly treats that are perfect for snacking on whenever you need a little something sweet! Corn Pops are my favorite cereal (you can use your favorite cereal in this) and the way they’re held together by a buttery marshmallow mixture is what dreams are made of. Plus, they’re SO EASY to make!
Why You’ll Love These Cereal Bars
I think I could wax poetic about this cereal bar recipe for days. Check out just a few of the reasons I’m so obsessed:
- The textures. Crunchy cereal combined with buttery, gooey marshmallows all held together in a single bar. It’s like all of the joys you get from a Rice Krispies treat, but with Corn Pops instead!
- So sweet. Corn Pops are a childhood favorite of mine because of their signature sweet flavor. The marshmallows compliment that sugary element beautifully.
- Easy as can be. From start to finish, these no-bake bars come together in just 15 minutes. Plus, you only need 3 ingredients to make them – cereal, marshmallows and butter!
- Versatile. Scroll down to the variations section to see some of my favorite ways to change up this recipe. Spoiler – you can definitely use whatever your favorite cereal is!
Ingredients for Cereal Bars
Take a quick look at your short and sweet shopping list! For more details about exact measurements, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Cereal – Corn Pops are my absolute favorite to use. Feel free to use the generic (store brand) version of them to pinch a penny. It’s hard to pick a bad cereal when they’re all so delicious!
- Marshmallows – You’ll need a bag of large marshmallows and any brand should get the job done. You can try a fun flavor or colorful marshmallows if you want.
- Butter – I like to use unsalted butter in this cereal bars recipe. You can use salted butter if you’d like.
Cereal Bars Variations
There’s a lot of room for creativity here! Check out some of the best ways to customize your homemade cereal bars:
- Change the cereal. Feel free to use whatever you like best. Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Cheerios – the list goes on! Be sure to comment below and let me know what you liked the most.
- Salted or unsalted. I like unsalted butter because it doesn’t take away from the cereal and sweet marshmallow flavor. However, if you’re a big salty and sweet fan, you should absolutely use salted butter!
- Flavored marshmallows. These days, it seems like I can always find a uniquely flavored bag of marshmallows at the store. Feel free to use whatever sounds good to you.
- Mix-ins. Some additions can include mini chocolate chips, a drizzle of melted peanut butter on top, sprinkles of any variety and so much more! If you end up adding something not mentioned here, comment below and let me know about it!
How to Make Cereal Bars Step by Step
Here’s a quick look at how easy it is to make the very BEST cereal bars! Scroll down to the recipe card for more detailed step-by-step instructions.
- Melt the butter. Add butter to a large pot over medium high heat. Let it melt.
- Add marshmallows. Pour in the whole bag!
- Mix it together. Stir the marshmallows into the melted butter. Keep on stirring until smooth and try not to let the marshmallows burn!
- Add the cereal. Pour the Corn Pops right into the pot.
- Combine it all. Stir the cereal into the buttery marshmallow mixture until it’s fully coated.
- Use the baking dish. Grab a 9×13″ pan that’s been lined with parchment paper. Add the cereal mixture to it.
- Press it. Use a spatula to spread/gently press the cereal mixture into an even layer.
- Slice. After 2 hours of cooling to room temperature, slice into bars and enjoy or store for later.
Storage Instructions
Homemade cereal bars are best enjoyed within 24 hours of being made. Once they pass the 1 day mark they begin to get a little bit stale. To keep them fresh for as long as possible, keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
More Easy Cereal Recipes
Your beloved childhood snack doesn’t need to live in the past! Grab a box of your favorite cereal and go to town with some of the BEST easy cereal recipes:
- Golden Grahams S’mores Bars
- Cookies & Creme Rice Krispies
- Heart-Shaped Rice Krispies Treats
- Cornflake Marshmallow Wreaths
- Holiday Rice Krispies
Cereal Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 7 cups (196 g) corn pops cereal
- 10 ounce (284 g) bag of large marshmallows
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Line the bottom of a 9×13″ baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat then pour in the bag of marshmallows. Stir continually until the marshmallows have all melted. You need to stir frequently to keep the marshmallows from burning.
- Remove pot from heat and pour in the corn pops cereal. Mix/stir until all the corn pops are covered in the marshmallow mixture. If you feel that you need more cereal, add more, a 1/2 cup at a time. Like I mentioned above, I like mine more marshmallow/gooey.
- Immediately pour contents of the pot into prepared baking pan and using the back of a silicone spatula, gently press down on the mixture to evenly spread it throughout the pan.
- Let cool for 2 hours then cut into squares.
- These are best eaten the day of. By the next day, the cereal gets somewhat stale and soft!
Nutrition
Photographs by Meg McKeehan Photography
this recipe made my bowl explode when i was doing this. i followed the instructions exactly and it caused my glass bowl to shatter into a million pieces
Hi, sorry that happened to you but I’d just like to point out that if you truly did follow instructions exactly; you would’ve read that the mixture is made in a pot on the stove then poured into a baking pan to set up. I’m not quite sure how your glass bowl would shatter unless you put the bowl on the stove?
Ha-ha. I’m assuming the glass she used was not oven-safe.
Hi! I’m a little late to the party, but better late than never :) I just made these but did 4 cups Corn Pops and 3 cups Ruffled lays chips. Salty, sweet, ooey gooey and delicious. thanks for the inspiration.
Oh yum!!! I can’t wait to try these out!
Just spotted these on Pinterest and had to click over Julie. These are SO fun! I loved lucky charms when I was little, but corn pops were my sister’s favorite. She’d die!
Love this idea! I eat all the boring cereal, but the boys always have their kiddie ones too… haha
I love corn pops too! This is the best idea ever to use them like instead of rice krispies in these treats!
Corn pops! This is amazing :) I can’t waist to get my hands on this!
Yum! I love corn pops. However, won’t it be super sweet?
Never tried this but thinking now I should!
My gosh these look delicious! I’ve never actually had corn pops cereal before but I bet I would love it – I’m a huge fan of corn in sweet treats!