Peanut Caramel Cornflake Bars

An irresistible combination

This recipe started out as a way to purge the pantry of a languishing bag of cornflakes. I originally imagined a cornflake-studded shortbread base topped with a layer of caramel-enrobed cornflakes, for maximum cornflake usage. This version was…fine? Nothing wrong with it per se, but I craved more textural contrast — a little more chew, a little more crunch.

Where we started. Not bad, but it got even better!

So I remade them, swapping the cornflakes in the topping for some chopped roasted peanuts. This version is killer — buttery caramel and toasty salted nuts are indeed the perfect foil for crisp, cornflake-laced shortbread. My family agrees it belongs in the bar cookie hall of fame, worthy of many repeat performances. I hope you’ll agree.

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Caramel, previously

• Caramel-stuffed chocolate snickerdoodles

• Chewy salted caramels

• Brown butter carmelitas

• Earl grey caramel slice

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Peanut Caramel Cornflake Bars

Makes one 8x8 pan