Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars are a perfect salty and sweet treat. Great for a grab-and-go snack that’s easy to share and pack for adventures!
If you’ve tried my Rice Krispies Trail Mix Bars, this version puts a rich, creamy peanut butter twist on the recipe. Bar Recipes like these are perfect for a bake sale, party, or sweet after-school snack and for a healthier version, check out my Trail Mix Granola Bars.
Why You’ll Love These Bars?
- Sweet and salty flavors for the perfect snack whenever you get that craving.
- Travel well making them perfect for lunches, sport games or other outdoor activities!
Sabrina’s Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars Recipe
This bar recipe is perfect for an on-the-go snack. They’re great to pack in a lunch or enjoy throughout the day as a sweet treat to keep you going. The peanuts add a good dose of protein to the recipe, so you could even take them on a hike just like you would trail mix. Putting the trail mix in a bar form makes it easier to eat without having to pick out pieces from a bag. Just make sure to let the bars cool completely before you cut them, otherwise, you’ll have a gooey mess on your hands.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 5 cups miniature marshmallows
- 2 cups pretzels , broken
- 2 cups Corn Chex
- 1 cup M&M candies
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup salted peanuts , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Spray a 9×13 pan with vegetable oil spray.
- To a medium saucepan add the butter, peanut butter, and marshmallows on medium heat.
- Mix well until just dissolved, then remove from heat.
- In a large bowl mix pretzels and Chex cereal with the peanut butter mixture.
- Once slightly cooled (in 1-2 minutes), mix in M&Ms candies, raisins, and peanuts.
- Gently press mixture into baking pan.
- Cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
Creamy or crunchy peanut butter works best. Natural peanut butter has more of an oil base that will not hold your bars together and they may fall apart. If you are using natural peanut butter, I would suggest adding in some oats that will help absorb the excess oil.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Easy Trail Mix Peanut Butter Bars are the perfect treat for the Summer or to pack in school lunches. Similar to classic Rice Krispies Treats, the base is made with a marshmallow and cereal mixture. But, instead of Rice Krispies, this version is made with Chex cereal and has peanut butter along with a variety of other add-ins. The peanut butter, pretzels, and peanuts add a nice saltiness to the dessert. Other mix-ins like M&Ms and raisins add more sweetness. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty with a variety of interesting tastes and textures mixed in. The sweet marshmallow treat is always a hit with kids. If you want to add some other healthy mix-ins like nuts and dried fruit, these bars are a great way to get picky eaters enjoying them!
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can make these bars in advance and keep them on hand to pack in a lunch or just an easy sweet and salty snack to enjoy throughout the week. These bars can be keep at room temperature for up to 4 days sealed and a container. Another option is keeping them in the fridge for up to a week. The bars will be hard to bite into when they’re chilled, so let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving. You can also freeze individual squares for up to 6 months.
How to Store
- Serve: Make sure to let the Trail Mix Peanut Butter Bars chill completely before you eat them. The bars won’t set until they’ve completely cooled down.
- Store: You can keep the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can also freeze them for up to 6 months. Cut the bars into squares, and put them into a freezer bag with the layers separated by parchment paper so they don’t stick together.
Ideas to Serve
These bars are perfect for busy mornings for a quick snack to eat on your way to work or school when you don’t have time for breakfast. They are also great for packing on road trips, hikes, camping or afterschool activities. Since you don’t need to keep them refrigerated, these bars travel well on all your adventures.
Frequent Questions
This can be for a few different reasons. Make sure that you have used a strong enough binder for your bars, you can add honey or maple syrup to the mix to help it stick together. Making sure your bars are pressed firmly into your pan will also keep them together and hold their shape. If you have larger pieces of pretzels or nuts, they may not stick together as tightly. You want the pieces to be small so they can easily stick togehter.
Your mixture may still be too hot when you are adding in your M&M’s (or you could use chocolate chips). Allow for it to cool for 1-2 minutes to help prevent chocolate from melting.
Variations
- Chocolate Chips: Try adding some chocolate chips to the mixture along with the other add-ins. You can use regular or mini chocolate chips. There are also different kinds of chocolate you can mix in, like white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips.
- Maple Syrup: For some extra sweetness, try mixing ½ cup maple syrup or honey into the peanut butter mixture.
- Granola: To make this recipe more similar to a granola bar, try mixing in different kinds of nuts and seeds. For the trail mix granola mixture, add in sliced almonds and cashews. Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds will also make a great addition. You can also mix in chunks of premade granola.
- Dried Fruit: You can add other kinds of dried fruit along with the raisins, like dried cranberries and cherries.
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These photos were in a previous version of this post
They are satisfying, perfectly chewy, and the peanut butter base holds everything together beautifully without making them crumbly. Loved it so so much.