These homemade crunch bars taste exactly like the popular chocolate candy bars, and the recipe calls for just 2 ingredients!
No bake chocolate crunch bars
The best homemade crunch bar recipe also just so happens to be the easiest.
As a former Nestle Crunch lover, I’ve tried numerous copycats over the years. Trust me when I say that this one is the most authentic tasting recipe you will find.
It boasts the same irresistible crispy, crunchy texture and rich chocolate flavor as the beloved originals, plus the same simplicity of ingredients.
It’s completely impossible to stop at one!
Also try these Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs
Step by step recipe video
Key ingredients in homemade crunch bars
Chocolate chips – Use dark chocolate chips to make dark chocolate crunch bars or semi sweet chips for a more neutral taste. Or for bars that taste exactly like the store bought version, go with milk chocolate chips.
The recipe can easily be low carb or dairy free and vegan. Simply choose a brand of nondairy or sugar free chocolate chips, both readily available at most grocery stores.
Rice crispy cereal – This can be any crisped rice cereal, including Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, Nature’s Path organic and gluten free Crispy Rice Cereal, or a generic brand to save money.
You may also change up the texture by trying another crushed cereal or granola in place of the crispy rice cereal. See below for even more variations.
Coconut oil (optional) – Adding two teaspoons of coconut oil to the melted chocolate gives the finished bars a smooth, shiny appearance. However, packaged Crunch bars do not include coconut oil and it is not required here either.
Extra chocolate chips? Make Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fun ideas for different flavors
- Use toasted quinoa instead of the rice crispies.
- Stir half a cup of softened peanut butter into the melted chocolate, to create chocolate peanut butter crunch bars.
- Mix a handful of chopped almonds or walnuts, shredded coconut, or healthy superfood chia seeds in with the dry cereal.
- Sprinkle the top of the candy bars with flaky sea salt.
- Or use a spoon to drop clusters of the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let sit until firm, creating your very own homemade copycat Buncha Crunch!
How to make homemade crunch bars
- Gather all of your ingredients, and line the bottom of an eight inch square pan with parchment paper or wax paper. Alternatively, grease the bottom of the pan with oil.
- Very carefully melt the chocolate chips. (Follow the guide below on how to melt chocolate correctly.)
- If using coconut oil, stir it into the melted chocolate.
- Pour in the rice crispy cereal, using a large spoon or spatula to gently fold the cereal in until evenly mixed and coated.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.
- This is the simple part: Leave the pan on the counter for a few hours until the homemade crunch bars firm up. Or if you are in a hurry, freeze for about five minutes or until hard enough to slice into bars.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the chocolate into bars or bites.
- Store leftovers in an airtight covered container in a cool, dry place. Or freeze for up to three months and enjoy for snack or dessert, straight from the freezer.
The best ways to melt chocolate for homemade candy bars
Microwave Method: Add chocolate chips to a dry, microwave safe bowl.
Heat thirty seconds on high power. Stir well, then heat in ten second increments, stirring after each until the chocolate sauce is smooth.
It is important to go slowly, because chocolate burns quickly.
Double Boiler Method: Fill the bottom pan of a double boiler with about an inch of water, and bring to a simmer.
Then remove from the heat and add the chocolate to the top pan. Never let any water touch the chocolate.
Allow the steam from the bottom pan to indirectly heat the chips as you stir them until fully melted.
This recipe is shelf stable, so it needs no refrigeration. Homemade crunch bars are great for Halloween parties, Easter baskets, or packing into a school lunch box!
Homemade Crunch Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (250g)
- 2/3 cup rice crispy cereal (20g) (For low carb, make Keto Candy Bars)
- 2 tsp coconut oil (24g) (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Line the bottom of an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, or grease well. Set this pan aside.
- 2. Carefully melt chocolate chips in the microwave or by using the double boiler method.
- 3. Stir in the coconut oil, if using.
- 4. Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold in the rice crispy cereal until evenly coated.
- 5. Spread the chocolate crunch bar mixture into the prepared pan.
- 6. Let sit on the counter until firm. Or if you are in a hurry, freeze for five minutes or until firm.
- 7. Use a sharp knife to cut into bars.
- 8. Store in a cool, dry place and enjoy within two weeks. Or freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.
Video
Notes
Easy chocolate recipes you’ll love
These look amazing! You should definatly give butterfingers a healthy makeover! Those are one of my favorite candy bars but they ate so unhealthy I can never eat them.
I can’t wait to try this. I am going to use puffed quinoa instead of the puffed rice cereal!
Another fantastic looking recipe! Would love to try this one 🙂 x
This rules Katie, perfect for today. You’re so right, Nestlé’s is totally missing out not making dark chocolate version. 🙂
A remake of Butterfingers.., yes please!!
These look amazing and I love that they could be gluten free too! I tend to love anything with chocolate in it and I’m sure these will be no different!
Thanks so much for this recipe! We’ve been missing a lot of old Nestle favorites since we stopped buying Nestle products. Their ambivalent attitude towards child slavery on chocolate plantations sickens me enough that I honestly feel a little sick to my stomach when I eat any of their products now. Even my oldest daughter (age 7) will say “no, thank you” when she’s offered a Nestle product for free! So anyway, I’m excited to have a Krunch bar that is fair-trade and healthy! Hurray!
I’m feeling the same way about Hershey’s right now. I’ve stopped buying their cocoa powder because learning about the slave trade just sickens me. The fact that in this day and age it’s still going on…
I’m actually writing a post about it, to try and get the word out. Fair-trade chocolate is much more expensive… probably because they actually PAY their workers 🙁
I’ve actually been praying that you would raise awareness about this. You have such a good audience for making a difference in this area. I’ll keep praying that you will be given the right words to ignite sympathy, indignation, and action. Some of our closest friends adopted children from Liberia, and the oldest was old enough to still remember friends who were stolen from Liberia and taken to Ivory Coast to work as slaves on the chocolate plantations. It was his biggest fear until he was adopted. He’s 11 now and very adamantly refuses to touch any chocolate that isn’t fair-trade because it could have been him and it might be one of his friends. Knowing him is certainly enough to make our family quite willing to pay the extra for fair-trade!
Wow Tina that is so terrible I didn’t know they were kidnapping kids. Can you recommend some fair trade cocoa? I’ve never seen any in the grocery store, but I will never buy nestle or hershey again.
Jen, I live overseas, so I’m sure Katie or others will be more help to you, but when I’m in the States, I’ve found it’s usually cheaper to buy fair-trade cocoa powder online. Amazon has some as well as many other sites – you have to shop around to get the best deal but you can get some good deals, especially if you’re willing to buy in bulk. However, it’s always more expensive than Hershey or Nestle, I’m sorry to say. Ghirardelli, as I understand it, has at least come out several times recognizing the problem and says they are taking action to try to change things and to make sure none of their cocoa is coming from slave sources, which is better than Nestle, so in a pinch, I’ll use theirs. If you do a search for “dark side of chocolate,” you can find more info.
Thank you so much Tina you have given me a starting point to do my own research I really appreciate it 🙂
I’m fairly sure the brand Katie uses that is fair-trade is Dagoba… Never seen that one myself at the regular grocery store, but maybe somewhere like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (if not online).
Thanks Alanna I’ll look for that online. I’m in a tiny town so I don’t have any of those stores close.
Hey sister,
In the past, I know you’ve asked for ideas and recipes for things you can lighten up or make vegan. Well, I came up with one today that totally stumped me. Candy Corn.
I know it’s not chocolate, but it’s one of my favorite candies (and those mellocremes; something about the texture of them is perfect), but both are sadly not vegan and *definitely* not healthy. So, someday when you’re bored and want a challenge, there you go… CCK’ed Candy Corn. 😉
-Molly
Ok! On the to-do list!
Oh my! Resee’s mini cups were for sure my favorite!!(dad always kept them in the fridge) But Mounds bars were such a close second!!!
Katie, these look delicious. Speaking of candy bars, you may want to check out my homemade Twix bars. Perhaps you can make them egg free, because I’m have a hard time figuring out how to do it.
P.S. Trying out this recipe TONIGHT! 🙂
I am dying to try this recipe, but a little unsure about the sweetener measurements. Can you give me an idea of how much you added? Thanks!!