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Easy Salted Peanut Chews

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Easy Salted Peanut Chews are chewy bars that have all the flavor of a salted peanut roll candy, but are much easier to make and sure to be a new Holiday favorite at your Nest.

Guilty pleasures come in all forms! One of mine … salted peanut rolls!

Easy Salted Peanut Chews in a stack

They’re always looming out at me from the check stand at the market, or farm supply, boasting their “2 for $2.00” bright red sign. The luscious covered peanuts, the gooey marshmallow filling…YUM!

Several years ago I came across this recipe for “Salted Peanut Chews” in one of those infamous Pillsbury mini cookbooks. I couldn’t wait to make them. They held the promise of the salted peanut roll in a cookie! Thankfully…they did not disappoint!

This Holiday treat is super easy to make with just a few standard pantry ingredients. So let’s do some baking!

How To Make Easy Salted Peanut Chews

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. 

How To Make the Crust

In the bowl of your mixer, combine one yellow cake mix, 1/3 cup softened butter, and 1 egg. 

cake mix, butter, and egg in the bowl of mixer

Mix on low speed until crumbly. Place in the bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 glass baking pan.

Crust in bottom of 9 x 13 pan

Press in the bottom of the pan with your hand. Press dough so that it covers the entire bottom of the baking dish.

Bake the crust, in the center of oven rack, for 12 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown.

Pressing crust into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan

Adding & Cooking the Marshmallow Layer

Remove pan from oven; immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Little pillows of happiness and joy! I love the gooey layer these little sugary creamy snowballs create!

Sprinkling crust with marshmallows

Return the pan to the oven! Yep, we’re gonna melt those little balls of happiness! Make ’em puff up like little balloons! 

Bake an additional 1–2 minutes or until marshmallows begin to puff…like your guests at the Thanksgiving dinner table!

Marshmallows puffed up after baking

Cool the crust and marshmallows while you make the chewy peanut layer.

How To Make the Chewy Peanut Layer

In a large sauce pan, over medium low heat, add 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 cup butter, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 package of peanut butter chips. 

peanut chips, vanilla, and butter in sauce pan

Stir constantly until chips are melted, and the mixture is smooth!

Stirring caramel Peanut mixture

Remove mixture from the heat, and stir in 2 cups rice crisp cereal and 2 cups salted peanuts. The rice crisp cereal adds a little extra “crunch” to the peanut layer.

stirring peanut chewy sauce to the rice crispy

Immediately, this means RIGHT AWAY…so the Barbie with her hair stuck in the ceiling fan will have to wait! (If you’re a Mom you’re not even questioning how the Barbie got her hair stuck in the ceiling fan! Right?)

Adding the Chewy Peanut Layer!

Anywho… Immediately spoon warm peanut topping over those puffy marshmallows. Use a rubber spatula to spread evenly in pan.

Chewy peanut topping spooned over marshmallows

Refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars. Now you may need the strength of Hercules to cut through the peanut layer…but if you let them set out for a little bit they’ll cut easier. I just caution you not to leave them out too long, or they can get too sticky to cut! 

Trust me… it will be worth the Cardio workout in the end! Store in a covered container until ready to serve. 

Easy Salted Peanut Chews cut into bars

Tips for making Easy Salted Peanut Chews

  • You can substitute any salted nuts you have on hand for the peanuts, or you can use whatever nut is your personal favorite!
  • Line the baking pan with foil, then spray with non-stick cooking spray, before pressing in the cookie base to quickly and easily lift and remove the bars once they have cooled from the baking pan. They’ll be easier to cut out of the pan.
  • You can make these peanut chew bars ahead of time since they must be chilled until they are firm enough to cut. They are great to do ahead of time when you have to bring food to a party.
Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Bars

If you love the flavors of a salted peanut roll candy, you’ll love this sweet and salty peanut butter bar recipe! They’ll add a little nutty delight to your cookie party tray this Holiday Season!

If you loved this delightfully delicious recipe, you may also enjoy these Holiday Cookie Recipes

This recipe makes 48 bars…just enough for you to share with me…or your friends and family…if ya must! Lol

Enjoy!

Norine's Signature and photo
Yield: 48 bars

Easy Salted Peanut Chews

Easy Salted Peanut Chews

Easy Salted Peanut Chews are chewy bars that have all the flavor of a salted peanut roll candy, but are much easier to make and sure to be a new Holiday favorite at your Nest.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg. Yellow Cake Mix
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups miniature marshmallows
  • 2/3 cup corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 (10-oz) pkg. peanut butter chips
  • 2 cups crisp rice cereal
  • 2 cups salted peanuts

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. In the bowl of mixer, combine cake mix, 1/3 cup softened butter and egg at low speed until crumbly. Press in bottom of ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan.
  3. Bake at 350° for 12-18 minutes or until light golden brown.
  4. Remove pan from oven; immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven; bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff. Cool.
  5. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine corn syrup, 1/4 cup butter, vanilla and peanut butter chips; heat until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.
  6. Remove from heat; stir in cereal and peanuts. Immediately spoon warm topping over marshmallows; spread to cover. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars. Store in covered container.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

48 bars

Serving Size:

1 bar

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 141Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 147mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 2g

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Pamela Elmore

Sunday 22nd of December 2019

No one posts recipes like you do! You make it fun! Thanks for the yummy recipe and for your delightful instructions. I'm making these tomorrow!

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Thursday 26th of December 2019

Pamela Thank you so much for the sweet compliment. It means so much to me. I hope you loved these Salted Peanut Chews. I can't wait for my braces to come off so that I can munch a pound or two of these next year. One of my all time favorites. Have a wonderful New Year and please stop by again. Happy Nesting! Norine

Julia

Tuesday 10th of December 2019

Oh my, these bars look delicious!

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Thursday 12th of December 2019

Miss Julia in the house!!! Thanks girlfriend for stopping by and visiting with me. You are simply....THE BEST! Hugs, Norine

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