Next Post
Oven Toasted Garlic Herb Cheese Ravioli.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Swirled Chocolate Butterscotch Bars. You don’t need to be a professional baker to make these deliciously EASY homemade treats. These bars require no oven, very little prep time, almost no effort, and use just seven pantry staple ingredients. But the very best part…they’re fun to make and are so DELICIOUS. These bars will make the perfect homemade Halloween “candy bar”, but will be equally great for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Trust me, you’ll be making batch after batch of these easy bars.
After a whole lot of requests for these bars, today we finally have chocolate butterscotch bars! I mentioned to you guys last Friday that I’d been waffling back and forth on whether or not to share these bars here on HBH. I just wasn’t sure how everyone felt about butterscotch. It’s not a flavor I bake with much, and to be honest, my self-doubt was really taking over last week. It happens to us all, right?
Thankfully I have you guys to help talk me out of the crazy mind games I play with myself. Since so many of you kindly encouraged me to make a sweet butterscotch recipe, I decided to stop second-guessing. I am finally sharing the recipe I’ve been braining storming for weeks.
And you know something, I’m so glad I did!! These cute little bars are not only easy to make, they are delicious. So. Very. Delicious.
Originally I had pictured these to be much more of a spooky homemade Halloween style “candy bar”. But after testing out the recipe I decided, while these are great for Halloween, they’ll be equally awesome for Thanksgiving, and even Christmas too.
So I switched up the picture I had in my head and I made these instead.
The recipe is somewhat inspired by my mom’s Special K-Bars (my second recipe ever posted on the blog!). K Bars (as we call them) are really just an old school recipe for chocolate peanut butter bars. Mom’s made these bars for every family party I remember. And at the very least, once a week when my brothers and I were kids. We all loved her bars…we still do. So these bars are somewhat inspired by her recipe, but with my own little twists.
They’re fun and easy, and every chewy bite is roll your eyes back good.
As mentioned, these bars are made using seven pantry staple ingredients. Honey, peanut butter, butterscotch chips, vanilla, a little coconut oil, and of course, plenty of sweet chocolate.
Oh, and flaky sea salt too…if you desire.
To make the bar base…simply melt together the honey, peanut butter, and half of the butterscotch chips until smooth and creamy. I prefer to do this on the stovetop, low and slow. Butterscotch chips can burn easily, so using a low heat here is key.
Once everything is melted, stir in the corn flakes and dump the mixture out onto a baking pan.
Now add a very thick, even layer of melted chocolate (you can use dark, semi-sweet, or milk – use your favorite!). Next, take melted butterscotch and dollop it right over the chocolate. Then grab a knife and gently swirl the butterscotch through the chocolate. The design looks tricky, but it’s actually the easiest to do and always comes out looking so pretty
Chill. Top with sea salt (if desired). Cut the bars. And done. So simple and easy, right?
Once I had these made and cut, I knew they were going to be great. I could tell from the texture of the cereal base and the thick, thick layer of chocolate that these would be a new favorite.
The peanut butter combined with the sweet butterscotch is really the perfect pairing. The melted butterscotch creates the chewiest, sweet bars that leave you wanting just one more bite. As Asher said, “these are so addicting”.
Both Asher and my mom have decided these are actually better than the original recipe. Yes, they are similar, but it’s the butterscotch that really changes the game and makes these bars oh so extra special. YUM.
Well, aside from a deliciously quick treat to enjoy on an October Tuesday…pretty much everything!
As I said, I am excited to make these for Halloween. The word on the street is that Asher is having her own family Halloween party…since trick-or-treating is canceled this year. All Halloween parties need dangerously delicious treats, so I will be bringing these!
And then? Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, these are great for both! I’ll be setting them out for my family to snack on after Thanksgiving dinner. And I’m already planning to wrap these up in my usual holiday cookie box. The options for these sweet treats are endless.
Whatever route you go, these bars will be loved and devoured. Making a double batch is highly recommended…and testing them out tonight…also highly recommended.
Looking for other quick Halloween desserts? Here are a few ideas:
Monster Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Hocus Pocus Spellbook Brownies
Lastly, if you make these Swirled Chocolate Butterscotch Bars be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
My first half baked harvest dessert dish I’ve made. I saw Tieghan making these on her instagram story and immediately went out and bought all of the ingredients. These were unbelievable!!!! SO GOOD. I even used gluten free corn flakes to make these a gluten free recipe and they were still amazing! I love the no bake. Only cooking involved in the peanut butter honey butter scotch corn flake crust. This was easy for a novice “baker” like myself.. The first bite will make you cry it is so delicious!
Hi Nicole! I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
We have a peanut allergy in our family. Do you think these would work with almond butter or sun butter? They look delicious!
Hey Carrie,
Yes I think either of those butters would work. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Corn flakes? You mention it but don’t say how much to add.
Hey,
The recipe calls for 6 cups of corn flakes. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I am going to start Christmas baking Am older can’t do it all at once can these be frozen until I need them if so for how long this recipe is right up my family’s alley sounds so good
Hey Barbara,
I would not freeze these for more than a month or so. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
“K squares” have always been a staple in my house too so, naturally, I’m drawn to this recipe. I drew the unlucky card of have a Peanut allergy kid and I’ve struggled to find an alternative with the same consistency to make those bars, or these, taste like they should. Do you have a suggestion? Almond butter seems to be to thick and sun butter can be so runny. Trying to help my kid experience this deliciousness!
Hey Molly,
You could try a mix of nut butters or you could sub for 1 bag of marshmallows. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Mmmm! We make something similar (using almond butter due to a peanut allergy) dropping them into cookie form on parchment. Bars with the chocolate addition sound amazing!!!! Thanks! For sure will add these to our Halloween celebration!
Amazing! Thank you Sarah! xTieghan
Any suggestions for subbing out nut butter? Thank you!
Hey Rebeeca,
You could do 1 bag of marshmallows! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Butterscotch is my fave!! Totally making these this week!
I hope you love these, Myriam! Thank you! xTieghan
How do you think this would taste with milk chocolate? Hubby can’t stand dark chocolate.
Hey Lucinda,
Yes that would be fine to use. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Oh my gosh my mom makes something similar to these and I’m so excited to try your version! I’m not the biggest fan of corn flakes, do you think it would be okay to substitute rice krispies type of cereal?
So excited, thanks for all of your delicious creations! 🙂
Hey Jessika,
Sure you could use rice krispies. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This looks AMAZING!!! Is there any chance I can replace the butterscotch chips with something else? Maybe butterscotch soft candy? I cannot find the chips in my country. Thanks 🙂
Hey Ale,
You can use additional peanut butter and simply omit the butterscotch portion of the recipe. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Not a butterscotch fan, what could I sub for it? They look amazing and I’d love to try them!
Hey Catherine,
You could simply use more peanut butter and omit the butterscotch. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These look amazing already decided to make some this weekend. I can’t wait to try them out. Thank you!
Thank you Katie! xTieghan
Looks delicious. For nut allergies would it be better to sub Tahini or a sunflower butter, I wonder?
Hey Sandra,
I would try using sunflower butter. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Ohhhh far too delicious, How can I ever resist this???!? Thank you so much for your conversiontool. I will only make a few pieces.
Thank you very much for your recipe.
Thank you Anne!! I am so happy you enjoyed this! xTieghan