Recipe for No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

My daughter took this photo of the beautiful rose that my husband so kindly gave me for Valentine's Day.  Yesterday, I stopped my busy time of dinner preparation to smell the rose.

I jokingly said to my daughter, "OK...I stopped to smell the roses.  I can check that off my list of things to do."  We laughed, yet we thought about how it is important to take time for the joyful things of life, even though we are working hard to accomplish the things on our list.

So, maybe having yummy peanut butter bars to snack on for a few days isn't a major thing to do to bring joy in my life, but sometimes simple things like that can add up to a happier day.  :)

Here is a recipe we adapted from the Six Sisters' Stuff cookbook (they had graham crackers in their recipe).  The Kix* cereal substitution worked very well in place of the graham crackers and added a flavor that made it taste like a Reese's Peanut Butter Bar.  Delicious!


Gluten-Free No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups crushed Kix cereal
1 cup, plus 4 tablespoons peanut butter, divided
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Step 1:  Place Kix cereal in a re-closable bag (Ziploc-type) and crush it with a rolling pin.

Step 2:  In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter, Kix cereal (be sure to measure after crushing it), powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended.  Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch pan.

Step 3:  In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the remaining peanut butter at 50 percent power, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.  Spread over peanut butter layer.

Step 4:  Refrigerate at least one hour before cutting into squares.  Makes 15 thin bars.

*Kix cereal doesn't have a gluten-free label on the box, but the ingredient list makes it appear to be gluten free.  We are quite sensitive to gluten and Kix cereal doesn't make us sick, but use it at your own risk.