5 Ingredient No Bake Nut Butter Bars
Sep 06, 2017, Updated Oct 21, 2024
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YOU GUYSSSSSS. These no bake nut butter bars SAVE me on mornings I don’t have my act together.
Which is basically every morning right now, since pregnancy insomnia has been keeping me up from about 2:30 to 5:30 am. It’s the weirdest thing. It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed. I routinely just wake up around 2:30 or 3 and then am WIDE AWAKE for 2 to 3 hours. It’s not my favorite.
So having breakfast for my son already made is a HUGE help on zombie mornings. One of my favorite tricks for keeping healthy breakfast and snack options on hand is to make things in big batches and then freeze them. It’s just as easy to reach into the freezer as it is to pull a package of something out of the pantry.
I first started making no-bake peanut butter bars for my toddler when I was busy with school and had to pack his breakfast to go to daycare in the morning. But, the recipe I started out using had a TON of ingredients in it. I decided to simplify things a bit with my own 5 ingredient version.
They keep best in the freezer, and are ready to eat after a quick 10-15 seconds in the microwave, or by sitting out on the counter for a few minutes. They just need to soften up a little bit from frozen so you can easily bite into them.
You can slice the bars whatever size you like. Typically, I make some that are slightly bigger, for breakfasts, and then do some that are about half the size for snacks. I keep them in a big bag in the freezer with a little parchment paper, but they usually don’t stick together at all.
And, you can make these with whatever nut butter you have on hand. I have used peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, and cashew butter. They’re all delicious!
I use some Grape Nuts because they are low in sugar, high in fiber, and very crunchy. Rice Krispies are also low in sugar and add to the crispy crunchy texture. If you don’t have Grape Nuts or don’t want to buy them, just replace them in the recipe with an equal amount of oats or Rice Krispies.
These bars are pretty energy and calorie dense, so a small bar goes a long way. I love that for busy little kids who rather be playing than sitting down for a big meal. A couple bites and you know they are getting enough to eat!
5 Ingredient No Bake Nut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup natural nut butter, any kind, (256 g)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1.5 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup rice krispies cereal
- 1/2 cup grape nuts cereal
Instructions
- Line 9x9 pan with parchment paper or spray well with nonstick spray.
- Add nut butter and honey to microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir well.
- Dump in all dry ingredients and stir well.
- Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until set. Remove and slice bars. Store in ziploc freezer bag in the freezer.
- To serve from freezer- set bar out at room temperature for 15 minutes, or microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is calculated by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. All nutrient values are approximations, as there are natural variations in ingredients and measurements.
Delicious!!! My kids loved these!! The peanut butter we had was on the dry side so I added a little bit of maple syrup to the mix. I also added two tablespoons of ground flax to increase the fiber. Love the crunch of the grape nuts and rice krispies!
I’m wondering how to make these gluten free. I’m wondering if they would still be good omitting the grape nuts and increasing the rice krispies and oats? Maybe I’ll try it and report back.
Hi there
I don’t have grape nuts cereal and am not familiar with it. Is there a modification that would work?
If I make these and freeze them and then take them out of the freezer and put them in my kids lunch box for school will they be ok? Just wondering how long is too long before they might get too soft/mushy/messy? Thank u!
Hi Kacie – What is the serving size for the nutritional profile you have listed? Is there a weight in grams or measured size?
is there a GF option for grape nuts??
Thank you for sharing your no sugar/low sugar bars recipes. I’m going to make them for me as I am Diabetic 2 and I have a sweet tooth.
These look good. My father is trying to eat less sugar and I’m joining him to help. I notice there is honey in the recipe; honey tends to be a little high in sugar.
Is there anything I could replace the honey with to accommodate him?
Hi Sarah! The honey really helps stick these together. You might be interested in my recipe ebook No Sugar, Still Sweet, which uses only fruit as a sweetener, no honey, no maple syrup, no added sugar in the recipes! It’s on my shop page 🙂
Thank you for the response!
These were amazing!! Thank you for sharing!
This can help Chris with the family he feeds. Sounds so easy!