Peanut Butter Chocolate Cereal Treats

Looking for a Valentine's Day treat to make for that special someone or just for yourself (You're special, too!)? I have an easy, no bake recipe for you that will push all the right flavour buttons - butterscotch, peanut butter, sweet 'n' salty, and crunchy. What do you mean, "Crunchy isn't a flavour"? It should be.

You might call these clusters, or haystacks, or cookies, or balls - I can't decide so I'm going with "treats". No matter what, they still taste amazing. I'm thinking of making them in a pan next time and then cutting them into bars like brownies.

Ingredients List

6 cups of cornflakes (or other favourite non-sweetened cereal)
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 pkg of butterscotch chips
1/4 cup of chocolate chips

Optional:
sea salt
dried cranberries
mixed nuts (chopped)
red pepper flakes


Directions:

Start by melting your butterscotch chips and chocolate chips in a saucepan over very low heat. Once they are smooth and melted add your peanut butter and stir to combine. If you are also including dried cranberries or mixed nuts, add 'em now.
 

 

Slowly add your cornflakes a little at a time, stirring as you go. You can press down a bit with your spoon to break some of them up - the smaller pieces will help the treats stick together.

Drop your mixture a teaspoonful at a time onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. The wax paper isn't crucial, but it sure does make for easy cleanup.

Here comes the fun part. If you are adding sea salt or red pepper flakes, sprinkle them - just a few! - on top of each treat. Put your pans in the refrigerator to cool and then transfer your treats to an airtight container once they have set.

 

 

 

I'm afraid I don't have any pretty packaging to show you for this one as we ended up eating them all! But if I'd wrapped them it would look something like this (a treat that actually made it to the intended recipient). The dollar store is a fantastic place to find inexpensive gift packaging.

However, if you choose to keep them for yourself - and I don't blame you - Enjoy!