Much like chess squares, this recipe is one of those that sneaks its way into everyone’s recipe box, yet no one really knows its origin. Of course, these kinds of recipes wouldn’t stick around like if they weren’t good.
Back when I had someone clean my house (ah, the good old days), she would bring these to us regularly. And, oh, how I looked forward to them. Now that I am without her services, I had begun having withdrawals from these delicious bars. So, I finally broke down and made them myself.
I love the simplicity of these. Not just in their preparation, but in the flavor. It’s pretty much all about the peanut butter, and we all know how I love peanut butter. The corn flakes aspect has always been a bit strange to me, but somehow it works.
While there isn’t technically any baking involved, these bars are just so good that I couldn’t resist adding them to my holiday baking lineup.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3 cups crushed corn flakes
Instructions
Combine brown sugar and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peanut butter. Fold in corn flakes until well mixed.
Spread into a 9″x 13″ pan. (Use a 9″x 9″ pan for thicker bars.) Chill until set. Cut into squares.
http://www.bakeorbreak.com/2007/12/corn-flake-bars/
December 16th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Love all things peanut butter, but somehow have never heard of this recipe—what a great photo presentation!
December 16th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Thanks, JEP! As a fellow peanut butter lover, I encourage you to give these a try.
December 21st, 2007 at 9:34 am
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve never had these. Wonder how they’d be with chocolate on top? MMmmmm….
December 21st, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Stacey, the addition of chocolate would certainly be interesting. Let me know if you try it!
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Wow.. these look really good. I’ve never eaten a dessert with cornflakes in it.. I’m definitely going to give it a try!
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Melanie, I highly recommend them. I hope you like them!
April 19th, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Made these this morning and I have a quick question. I prepared these as written, with *3 cups crushed corn flakes* (measured after I crushed the cereal) and there seemed to be wa-ay too much crumbly corn flake bits. It makes me wonder if I should have used *3 cups corn flakes, crushed* (measure cereal first, then crush) instead. I think I used close to 6 cups of cereal (pre-crush). Your picture looks so good and creamy, mine – not so much… Ended up topping the whole thing off with a layer of melted dark chocolate chips in the hopes of holding everything together.
April 19th, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Hi, Julie! It’s been ages since I made these, so I had to go back and do a little review. The amounts are correct in the recipe. I’m not sure what went wrong! It’s a very thick mixture when it gets mixed together. It should set up better as it cools.