I was rooting through the baking cupboard; you know, the place over the fridge where we stash the extra flour and sugar, all that Jello – still a mystery to me – and other necessities for baking, when I came across a half empty big box of corn flakes stashed in the corner. Hmmmmm. Normally, we only use corn flakes for my Company Creamed Corn – a family tradition since 1988 – and Rich’s Heart Attack Potatoes, two really nice recipes that are also really pretty bad for you; so we only have them on feast days – meaning that these corn flakes have been up there since at least Easter and MAYBE (but I really doubt it) Thanksgiving (!) In any event, it was time for them to go.
Trouble was, they were still ‘fresh’ and crunchy, and I won’t toss perfectly good food. Our feast recipes, while perfectly suited to a feast, or at least cool Fall, Winter or Spring weather, would not be tempting in late June; so I went hunting. Or started to…
As I was hefting the box to see about how much cereal I was dealing with, I noticed a recipe on the side for ‘Crispy Chocolate Bars’. It called for 5 cups of corn flakes – which was exactly the amount I was trying to dispose of, chocolate chips (in the baking cupboard), peanut butter (in the pantry) and butterscotch morsels (DANG IT!). OK, lacking one ingredient, even in a four ingredient recipe, was NOT going to stop me! Also in the baking cupboard (next to that Jello) were several unopened Almond Bark packages. Hmmmm.
Ya know? It’s not too, too bad. I didn’t have a nine inch square pan (only 8-1/2) – so my bars may be a bit thicker than they should be, but they make for a nice, if also rather rich, treat. I’ll list the original recipe from the Kellogg’s box, you can adapt it as you will…
INGREDIENTS
•1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
•1 cup butterscotch chips
•1/2 cup peanut butter
•5 cups corn flakes
Directions (I went microwave):
Combine the chips and peanut butter in a 3-qt pan. Stir over low heat until smooth.
OR
Combine the chips and peanut butter in a large microwave safe bowl and wave on high for two minutes or until melted. Stir until smooth.
Add corn flakes to melted chips/peanut butter and stir until evenly coated.
Coat a 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan with cooking spray and press mixture in with wax paper or a buttered spatula.
Cut into squares and cool. Store in an airtight container.