Crunchy, chocolatey, and made with just FIVE ingredients. Even better: it’s no-bake a super easy to make. Winning!
Golden Grahams Bars
Golden Grahams Bars. Plain and simple. Like, as in, let’s get retro and go back to making bars from a box of cereal because HONESTLY IT’S JUST SO GOOD.
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Man, oh man, was this GOOD. Coming from a cereal fanatic, it was like you read my mind with this recipe. Perfectly simple too.
Do you mind? I am going to go full throwback retro dessert bar on you today.
I have had a MAJOR sweet tooth in the last few weeks as you might remember from this Mocha Peanut Butter Pie and these Raspberry Crumble Bars and last week’s Cookie Dough Energy Bites which are kind of dessert masquerading as health food balls. It’s the baby, I think, right? I can put this on her.
Either way, I CANNOT BE STOPPED.
These Golden Grahams bars are batting 100% for satisfying every dessert bar desire of my heart lately: crunchy, sticky, and 15-minute easy. I also love them because I grew up eating a lot of dessert bars (Minnesota represent!) in church basements, sporting events, and slumber parties. Creme Brûlée? Cheesecake? Tiramisu? Meh, that’s nice, but just cut me a hunk of that marshmallow cereal bar, wouldya?
Reasons To Love Golden Grahams Bars:
- Crunchy. SO CRUNCHY. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
- Sweet and chocolatey.
- SMORESY.
- Just the right amount of marshmallow-sticky.
- No baking.
- Easy to make.
- Easy to cut, store, transport, and pass around to friends.
- Easy to eat 5 without realizing. Wait, that’s a good thing, right?
Okay, I’m about to get bossy with you.
STUDY UP ON THIS.
If you are not immediately entranced by the hot, gooey, chocolate-marshmallow + crispy graham cereal business that just bumped into your face, you might not be human.
At this point in the “baking” process, you will need to stop, get out a spoon, and eat hot, shapeless, melted cereal-chocolate-mallow mash-up for a few minutes.
Once you’ve cut yourself off from the depths of warm Golden Graham bar mixture, you are ready to press and cut.
And when your Golden Grahams bars have cooled (which takes roughly fifteen minutes – yet another reason I love these babies), you need to cut them into VERY LARGE pieces, which is ideal for admiring your deliciously creviced cross-section of cereal, chocolate, and mallow.
You guys, I make no apologies. This is what I love right now.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Watch How To Make Our Golden Grahams Bars:
Golden Grahams Bars
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 huge bars 1x
Description
Golden Grahams Bars! Crunchy, chocolatey, and made with just FIVE ingredients. Even better: it’s no-bake a super easy to make. Winning!
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 bag of mini marshmallows
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 12-ounce box of Golden Grahams cereal (see notes)
Instructions
- Prep: Set one cup of the mini marshmallows aside.
- Chocolate Mixture: Melt the butter, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and vanilla in a large pot over medium heat until mostly smooth.
- Add Golden Grahams: Mix in the Golden Grahams cereal and remaining marshmallows. Stir to combine.
- Press Into Pan: Press into a 9×13 pan. Let them cool / solidify for an hour or two. Cut into 12 big bars and devour like a hungry Golden Grahams Bar wolf.
Notes
MAKE THESE ALREADY! They are so good.
Using wet hands helps to prevent sticking as you press the warm mixture into the pan.
When I made these, I added just a little less than the entire box of cereal. I would estimate 10 ounces. Here’s why: 1) I like to have a dessert bar that leans towards extra-sticky (higher goo-to-cereal ratio), and 2) it leaves me with a bowl or two of yummy cereal to eat. It should work fine with the whole box if you just want to do a clean sweep of it, but as someone who has made a lot of these, I’m just giving you my cereal pro tip.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: golden grahams bars, chocolate bars, cereal dessert bars
Note: I have an older recipe for almost-identical Golden Grahams Smores Bars that I also love. The only difference is that those ones include corn syrup, which I left out of this recipe. Doesn’t need it! They were still 100% sticky, delicious, sweet, crunchy, and summertime rockin.
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our easy chocolate desserts page. Check it out!
July 2, 2018
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Retro love! I haven’t had Golden Grahams in years… but were one of my all-time childhood faves!! Love the excuse to run out and pick up an box (and have a little extra to snack on after the bars are done.) Thanks Lindsay!
These look amazing! Already put these on my grocery list – with Cinnamon Toast Crunch instead 🙂
These are my fave, I actually made them on Friday night for a party (via my mom’s old school recipe written on an index card 100 years ago :)). So glad you’re sharing the “Indoor S’mores” love!
OH MY GOSH! It’s like childhood in a bar!
OMG Lindsay, you are killing me. So much baking and non-baking is happening in my kitchen lately thanks to you :). First the lemon/blueberry bread, then the peanut butter mocha pie. These are my next treat to whip up now. I love Golden Grams and can’t wait to have these and to maybe have a bowl of cereal too! Keep the great recipes and ideas coming!
Oooh, these look so good! I must make these soon, preferably when I have a group to feed so I don’t eat them all myself! Fourth of July, perhaps? Or it would also be perfect for the girls movie night that I’m organizing next week. I’ll be making these with Cascadian Farms Organic Graham Crunch cereal, as it’s non-GMO. Then I’ll be using Dandies vegan marshmallows. I can’t wait to try these! They sound incredibly delicious.
These look so delish, I can’t wait to try them 🙂
Would u suggest milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips? Thanks!
Hi! I just made these and I used milk chocolate to replicate the hershey’s bar in s’mores. They were delicious!
Milk chocolate would be best. 🙂
These look amazing! What kind of chocolate did you use? Milk, dark, semisweet?
I believe milk chocolate!
These are perfect for me as soon as I get off the treadmill in the morning from empty stomach morning cardio. Light on my stomach, low in calories, delicious, and healthy 🙂
what a fun summer snack-dessert recipe, thank you
So making these for the 4th of July! I work in acute care, which means holidays are not a thing; my colleagues and I are definitely going to appreciate a sweet treat!
How many ounces of mini marshmallows did you use? I will use regular size marshmallows – we have a lot left over from a recent camping trip. Can’t wait to try this recipe!!
Only 5 ingredients?! AND no bake?! Sold 🙂
Such a low key but FUNDAMENTAL skill. Props MN!
Haha, this recipe is great! I must try it.
These look so good! Hoping to make them for a 4th of July bbq today. Question—what size bag of marshmallows should I get?
Thank you. Made for the 4th and they are all gone already! Perfect for a picnic. Used Cascadian Farms graham cereal 9.5 oz box and 10 oz Ghiradelli bittersweet chicken choc chips. Only had 1/2 cup of butter on hand but seemed OK.
Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Thanks for the tip on Cascadian Farms! Looks like they’re dairy free. Now I can make these for the whole family.
Oops! It looks gorgeous. I loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
I made these for a fourth of July party and they were a hit. One of my friends kept pretending he hadn’t had any so he could try them. I think that speaks to how good they are lol
Glad to hear that, Lindsay!
Golden Grahams are so under appreciated. I make a bar very similar but add a little PB to the marshmallow mixture when melting it.
Vavvv. It seems very nice. I want to make this. Thanks
Hi,
I have to modify this to go with foods I can have. Kidney stone fold can’t eat or shouldn’t eat chocolate which has an annoying element called oxalate which is in choc. by the ton. Sooo, I am making a vanilla-marshmellow bar. How bad could it be? When is the baby due???
Oh man this takes me back!! And in a very good way. Thanks Lindsay!
These were a huge hit in our house, whole pan gone within 24 hours. Thanks for an easy yummy treat!
Glad to hear it, Kathy!