Have you ever noticed how expensive snacks are? I literally used to walk the snack bar isle and look for a protein rich snack (I have low blood sugar) that wasn’t going to break my budget. I wish I was kidding, but I’m really not. There were some bars that were definitely my favorites, but I just couldn’t buy many of them unless I had coupons. So then, it was always back to the drawing board… until I started making these Dark Chocolate Caramel Coffee Bars! These things were a real game changer because I could make a whole dish of them for what it would cost to buy 2 protein bars. CRAZY!!
Coffee Bars?! What’s In Them?
I’m glad you asked! These coffee bars are relatively simple to make because they have ingredients in them that most bakers keep in their pantries (except the instant coffee… I had to specially buy that lol).
You will need some Instant Oats (you can also use old fashioned oats), rice crisps cereal, cocoa powder (I use the dark chocolate in my Breakfast Shakes, so that’s what I used in these also), instant ground coffee, peanut butter (I used the crunchy to add a little extra texture), honey, vanilla, and caramel sauce (I had some left over from a Butterfinger cake, so I thought, why not?).
Literally, you just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir them all together until they are well combined. My pro tip is to stir the dry ingredients up first so they’re already mixed before you add the peanut butter. If you want an easier way to stir the peanut butter, heat it up in the microwave for 15 seconds.
After combining the ingredients, use some wax paper, and put it at the bottom of an 8×8 casserole dish. Then, pour the mixture onto the wax paper. Use a spoon to press the bars down. You want them as compact as you can get them so they’ll stick together really well. Lastly, you top them with some caramel sauce (or you can use some chocolate syrup).
Refrigerate the bars for 1 hour. Once you take them out, you should be able to lift the wax paper out of the dish. When you pull the wax paper away from the sides of the bars, you’ll notice that they’re sticking together really well! Use a knife to cut them into bars. I normally get 9 big bars total out of the mix! Feel free to cut them smaller if you’d like a smaller portion!
How Can I Make These Kid Friendly?
Easy! Omit the instant coffee from the recipe all together. You can also substitute the peanut butter with almond butter or Nutella if there is a peanut allergy. You can use milk chocolate cocoa powder for a sweeter taste (dark chocolate has a bitter taste), and you can add chocolate chips to the mix if desired. Leave the caramel sauce off the top if you want less sticky on their little hands too 😉
If you’d like another snack recipe that my kids really love, see my Peanut Butter Energy Bites here! My husband and I love eating these too!
If you’d like more recipes, click here!
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Dark Chocolate Caramel Coffee Bars
Equipment
- 1 8×8 casserole dish
- 1 Wax Paper
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Peanut butter Use Crunchy Peanut butter for more texture
- 2 Cups Rice Crisps Cereal
- 1 Cup Instant Oats Old Fashioned Oats work too
- 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder Dark Chocolate is my preference
- 1/3 Cup Honey
- 1 TBSP Instant Ground Coffee
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Optional
- 3 tbsp Caramel Sauce Optional
Instructions
- Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Next, add the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
- Line the 8×8 casserole dish with wax paper. Pour the mixture into the dish. Use the back of your spoon to press the mixture to the dish as tightly as possible.
- Top with the caramel sauce (if desired). Next, refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Remove bars from the dish by lifting the wax paper up. Set on a flat surface. Pull the wax paper from the edges, and use a knife to cut the bars into 9 large bars (or you can make smaller bars if desired).
- Refrigerate bars until ready to use, and enjoy!