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These gluten-free Peanut Marshmallow Bars have it all. Sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy all wrapped into one delicious bar!
In fact, these taste just like a Payday candy bar, at least to me they do! So, if you like the candy, then I believe you’ll love these scrumptious bars.
What’s in Peanut Marshmallow Bars?
- Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix: I used the Bob’s Red Mill package GF vanilla yellow cake mix. However, if you have another GF brand you’d like to use, feel free to use it. Just make sure it’s 19 oz. or around 1 lb. in weight. Of course, you can certainly use regular yellow cake mix as well.
- Butter: I use a grass fed butter from Costco but you can use any good quality butter for this recipe. I haven’t used margarine, because I don’t eat the stuff, so therefore I can’t tell you if it’s a good substitute or not. So, I would just stick with using butter for this recipe.
- Egg: Not really much to say other than it’s used as a binding agent in the bottom “cookie layer”. Pasture raised eggs are my fav!
- Mini Marshmallows: These fluffy sweet treats are the “filling” or middle layer.
- Peanut Butter Chips: This will give the bars that Payday taste. We used the Reese’s brand chips for this recipe.
- Light Corn Syrup: This helps to smooth out the peanut butter mixture, making it more creamier.
- Vanilla Extract: We used a high quality vanilla extract. I love this brand. If you can, I would suggest using real vanilla extract instead of imitation vanilla.
- Salted Peanuts: Salted peanuts will balance out the sweet in this recipe. Furthermore, it adds such great crunch. I chose roasted-salted peanuts.
- Puffed Rice Cereal: I used this brand. It’s a whole grain puffed rice cereal. It also adds a nice little crunch. Alternatively, you can use a crispy rice cereal and it will still turn out great!
What I Like about these Bars:
Everything, lol. Well, for starters I have a sweet tooth and these satisfy that craving. Plus, the saltiness of the peanuts offsets the sweetness a little, making it the perfect sweet/salty treat.
They’re also crunchy and soft at the same time. The peanuts & puffed rice topping make it slightly crunchy and the marshmallow center and soft cookie like crust makes it soft and chewy.
The perfect overall combination of flavor and texture going on in this dessert.
I also love that these bars are easy to make and they make a whole panful so there’s plenty to treat yourself to and share with others…if you’re in the mood to!
In the mood for more delicious bar recipes? You have to try these then!
Sugar Cookie Bars (Gluten-Free)
Chocolate Pecan Bars (Gluten Free)
Oatmeal Cherry Bars (Gluten-Free)
Gluten-Free S’mores Cookie Bars
Peppermint Cheesecake Bars (Gluten-Free)
Peanut Marshmallow Bars
Ingredients
Bottom Layer:
- 19 oz. Pkg. gluten-free yellow cake mix, ex. Bob's Red Mill GF vanilla yellow cake mix
- 1/3 c. butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
Marshmallow Layer:
- 3 c. mini marshmallows
Top Layer:
- 10 oz. pkg. peanut butter chips
- 1/2 c. light corn syrup
- 1/2 c. butter, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 c. salted peanuts
- 2 c. puffed rice cereal, or crispy rice cereal
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine cake mix, melted butter and egg. Press mixture into a greased 9×13" baking pan.
- Bake at 350° for about 10-12 minutes or until cooked through.
- Sprinkle marshmallows all over crust and put back into oven for another 3 minutes or until marshmallows are melted, but not browned!
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the peanut butter chips, corn syrup, and butter until smooth. Take off of heat and stir in vanilla.
- Stir in peanuts and rice cereal. Dollop peanut mixture all over marshmallow layer and spread around carefully with a silicon spatula.
- Allow bars to cool down and firm up a bit before chilling in the fridge. Cut unto squares and enjoy! Makes about 30 bars.
Nutrition
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Scrumptious, love the recipe, thanks.
Eating these delicious bars is like eating a Payday Candy Bar! Not too sweet even with the marshmallow! Really tasty!!!