Kitchen Creation Number One: Cereal Bars

A couple weeks ago I was out grocery shopping and came across these:

Since my 4-yo does not like to eat cereal with milk, I thought I'd give these "cereal bars" a try. If he liked them, I figured I could take a look at the ingredients list on the box and create some cereal bars of my own. He liked the bars well enough, so last weekend I set about gathering the ingredients I did not already have. And this morning, I set up my laboratory and began experimenting...

Some of the *possible* ingredients (I did not end up using all of these):

And, tools of the trade (I am ready for anything!):

I begin with one cup of  Life cereal, and crush:

I add 1/4 cup "bottom of the box" Shredded Wheat (this is the stuff you find left-over after you've eaten all the intact pieces; I always save it for potential future uses like this):

I then add 1 packet unflavored gelatine, 1 T. flax meal, 1/4 t. salt. I add 1 T. each molasses, honey, and olive oil. After mixing (not pictured), the molasses taste is a little too strong, so I add another T. of honey. Then I mix it all up. Looks yummy:

Finally, I mix in 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup raisins:

Now on to the milk filling (in the original store-bought product, this is sandwiched between layers of cereal). I start with 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk:

I add 2 T. sweetened condensed milk. Gooey:

It's pretty dry, so I add olive oil 1/2 t. at a time as I continue to mix:

This looks nasty:

Starting over, with the dry milk and condensed milk. Then instead of oil, this time I just add water, 1/2 t. at a time, for a total of 3 t.

I also add 1/4 t. salt and 1/4 t. vanilla. After tasting, though, it is too salty. So, I add another 1/2 c. dry milk and 2 T. condensed milk, and another 3 t. water. Now it looks (and tastes) perfect:

I decide against the layering technique, and just dump the milk mixture into the cereal mixture, and mix:

I line a baking sheet with wax paper and dump:

Then I spread it out:

I put it into the oven and bake at 200 degrees. I keep it in for an hour or so (I lost track of the exact time). Then, I take out of pan still with the wax paper, and set it onto a wire rack to cool:

Once cool enough, I turn it over and carefully peel off the wax paper:

Then, I cut it into bars:

Here's my official taste tester:

Hey, he likes it!

By the way, you've gotta watch your step in my kitchen:

And here, the final product. Eight individually-wrapped cereal bars:

I decide to try the same recipe again, only this time using Honey Bunches of Oats in place of the Life, and wheat germ in place of the Shredded Wheat:

I left out the molasses this time and added an extra T. of honey in its place. I add a knife-full of peanut butter:

I also mix and add the milk mixture, and bake as before. When I peel off the wax paper this time, it is a little sticky on the underside, so I put it back into the oven with the bottom side up for another ten minutes just to dry it out a little more. And it comes out beautifully once again:

Don't forget to clean up your laboratory...I mean, kitchen, once you have finished experimenting...I mean, baking.

And there you have it. Homemade cereal bars, a whole lot better for you than the store-bought variety (and tastier, too, in my opinion).

The complete recipes

Life/Shredded Wheat and Molasses Cereal Bars

Cereal mixture:

1 c. Life cereal, crushed

1/4 c. crumbled Shredded Wheat

1 T. flax meal

1 packet (1 oz.) unflavored gelatine

1/4 t. salt

1 T. molasses

2 T. honey

1 T. olive oil

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup raisins

Milk mixture:

1 cup nonfat dry milk

4 T. sweetened condensed milk

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. vanilla

6 t. water

Combine cereal mixture and milk mixture.

Spread on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven at 200 degrees for 60+ minutes, until bars are no longer sticky.

Take out, cool on rack. Peel off wax paper and cut into bars.

Honey Bunches of Oats and Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Cereal mixture:

1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, crushed

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 T. flax meal

1 packet (1 oz.) unflavored gelatine

3 T. honey

1 T. olive oil

1-2 T. peanut butter

Milk mixture:

1 cup nonfat dry milk

4 T. sweetened condensed milk

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. vanilla

6 t. water

Combine cereal mixture and milk mixture.

Spread on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven at 200 degrees for 60+ minutes, until bars are no longer sticky.

Take out, cool on rack. Peel off wax paper and cut into bars.