Grandma's Peanut Butter Crisp Bars
These peanut butter crisp bars are sweet and crunchy, and so easy to make. They'll disappear in a flash!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups gently crushed rice chex cereal for gluten-full, substitute rice krispies cereal
Frosting (see recipe notes)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 9 or 11 x 7 pan with parchment paper. Prep all of your ingredients in advance, including sifting the sugar. See recipe notes if you're using rice chex cereal.
- Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a medium sauce pan and stir constantly over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. You'll know it's dissolved when the mixture is smooth and easy to stir and no longer feels grainy.
- Remove from heat and mix in peanut butter. Then gently stir in rice chex or krispies. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. (See recipe notes.)
- In a small sauce pan, mix the butter and brown sugar until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and add in vanilla and milk. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread the frosting evenly across the top of the peanut butter mixture. (See recipe notes.)
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour before cutting into bars. Tightly cover and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Both the peanut butter mixture and frosting mixture will harden fast, so make sure you have everything measured and ready to go so that you can work quickly!
Measure out 2 1/2 cups of rice chex into a ziploc bag and gently crush. Then pour into a measuring cup. That should be about 2 cups but you might need to add a little more depending on the size of your chex pieces.
Double the frosting recipe if you like it thicker.