Peanut butter and chocolate cereal treats AKA Scotcheroos

This recipe had me at peanut butter and chocolate. I love that combination of flavors. Today at work I had the worst craving for something sweet. So much so that I almost went out and bought me some cookies from one of our local cookie shops.

As soon as I got home, I went to work trying to decide which of my hundreds of "Sweet Treats" pins I should make. I wanted something quick to make since I still had to make dinner too. I actually have made these twice before right in a row since they were so good.

This recipe is all over Pinterest - but here it is:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups cereal - Chex, Rice Crispies - whatever you have on hand

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips

1 tsp vanilla

Stir the sugar and corn syrup in a sauce pan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Then take off the heat and stir in your peanut butter - if you want the peanut butter flavor to stand out more then add another 1/2 cup. After the peanut butter is evenly stirred into the mixture, pour over cereal mixture and coat evenly. Press mixture into a greased 9x13 pan or just turn out onto parchment paper if you want to just pull chunks off to eat it like I do. Melt your chips together in the microwave in 30-second intervals. When melted, stir in the vanilla. Pour over the top of the cereal mixture and let set before cutting or just drizzle it on top like in my example.

I used half a bag of peanut butter and milk chocolate chips on these. I used a Ziploc bag to melt them in and then cut the corner off to drizzle over the cereal mixture.

This recipe is gluten-free also. Just check your cereal - I hear some of the off-brands are not always GF.
If you cut them in bars - which makes it easier if you are taking them to a party - they look something like this:

This is a pic from the first time I made these. Either way - they are delicious!