With just 15 minutes prep and then about an hour in the fridge, these No-Bake Chocolate Cranberry Almond Clusters are ready to pop in your mouth for a snack you and your kids can feel good about!
Both of my boys are huge snackers. All day, every day they ask for snack after snack after snack. Simon's big thing right now is grabbing the M&M's from my baking cabinet, then handing me a bowl asking me to pour some of those M&M's into his bowl. Yes, he's not even two years old!
Judah, on the other hand, understands the limits when it comes to snack time. He still wants to eat 24/7, but because he is old enough to know that I will not give him food all day he at least looks at the clock and will say "Oh, I guess it's not snack time." HA!
We'll have cheese crackers, apples and peanut butter, popcorn, pretzels, gummies, suckers, Pirate's Booty, string cheese, etc. etc. etc. But, even with this multitude of choices, I like to switch it up and have them try something new. A few weeks ago, I received a fun sample box from Big G cereals with their new Cheerios + Ancient Grains cereals, along with their gluten free Chex quick-cooking oats. Along with the box were a few recipes, and I decided to adapt one of them to our liking for a new snack that day -- resulting in this No-Bake Chocolate Cranberry Almond Clusters recipe.
We ended up loving these clusters! They stayed fresh in our fridge for a few days which was perfect for a grab 'n go bite when we needed a quick pick-me-up. Ben took a couple to work and the boys and I would snack on them through out the day.
These clusters a great source of energy and strength with the nutrients from the nut butter, cranberries and oats. You can sub the nut butter with peanut butter, or try mixing in your favorite additions to make it your own!
No-Bake Chocolate Cranberry Almond Clusters
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cheerios™ + Ancient Grains cereal
- 1/2 cup Chex™ Gluten Free quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries , roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter
- 2 oz . honey
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Instructions
- Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan, then line with parchment paper. (The butter is used to hold down the paper.) In a large mixing bowl, combine the cereal, oats, cranberries and chocolate chips; set aside.
- Combine the almond butter, honey and brown sugar in a large microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove bowl and stir. Microwave an additional 30 seconds, stir again.
- Remove from the microwave and pour over the cereal mixture in the mixing bowl. Gently stir until coated. Transfer to the prepared pan and press to evenly cover the pan. Refrigerate 1 hour then cut into rough clusters. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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