Grape-Nuts Peanut Butter Bars.

Sometimes life feels like a lot, doesn’t it?

I’ll spare you the details, but the last couple of days have been hard. But there are good things in every day. Like the view to the east.

And a walk with a happy dog and her stick.

And the deep, beautiful colors of autumn.

Oh, and the peanut-buttery power bars I made yesterday using Grape-Nuts cereal. They were the OPPOSITE of hard- if you’ve got five minutes, you’ve got time to make these!

Yesterday, I discovered this on my kitchen counter, cut from the cereal box. Apparently, someone in the house thought they sounded yummy.

A glance at the simple ingredients list showed me that I already had everything the recipe called for in my pantry. I decided to add chopped pecans and dried cranberries, too! Yum!

All you do is microwave peanut butter, sugar, and light corn syrup, then stir in the cereal, nuts, and cranberries.  Press the mixture into a pan and let it cool.

You guys, THAT’S IT. The most time-consuming part of the whole recipe is letting the bars cool so you can cut them up and share them!

The bars are chewy, with an awesome crunchy texture from the Grape Nuts and the pecans. I wrapped up some of them in plastic wrap and popped them in the freezer to enjoy them later.

I think next time I make them, I’ll stir in some wheat germ and protein powder to make them true “power bars!” I couldn’t believe how quick and easy these bars were to make.

On a hard day, the simple things help make it better. 

Grape-Nuts Peanut Butter Bars

• ¾ cup reduced fat peanut butter
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups Grape Nuts cereal

(I reduced the Grape-Nuts to ¾ cup and added ½ cup chopped pecans and about 2/3 cup dried cranberries.)

Microwave peanut butter, corn syrup, and sugar in a large microwavable bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes, stirring after each minute. Add cereal (and nuts or berries, if desired) and mix well.

Press cereal mixture in the bottom of a 13×9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cool completely. Cut into bars and ENJOY!