Chunky Chocolate Cheerios: Kids Will Love You and Mothers Will Hate You

I kind of have a strange relationship with Cheerios. Not because of their taste, but because they bring me back to a memory when I was a young married wife.

My husband and I were trying to start our family to no avail. We were the last of all of our married friends not to have a child and our prospects were looking pretty bleak. Doctor after doctor, test after test, and nothing was happening.

As a childless couple, it was so easy to watch other parents with their children and say to ourselves “We are never going to let our children do that!”.

You should never say never.

Before I had children, I remember getting into the cars of some of my mommy friends and there would be Cheerios all over the floor. There they were ground into the carpet along with raisins, McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys and maybe even an old diaper.

And I remember in my pre-mommy days thinking….”I am NEVER going to let my car get like this when I have children.”

You should never say never.

Well, it wasn’t long before my husband and I adopted three of the most amazing children and guess what? My kids DID do all those things and my car DID have Cheerios ground into the floor carpet.

And I loved it every minute. Cheerios and all!

Nowadays my Cheerios are going into this great recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheerios Chunks which we have shared over at My Kitchen Escapades.

Head on over there right now to get the recipe. I promise they won’t last long enough to get ground into the carpet in your car!

INGREDIENTS

• butter to grease
• 200g (7 oz) white chocolate
• 200g (7 oz) plain chocolate
• 75g (2 ½ oz) crunchy peanut butter
• 75g (2 ½ oz / 2 ¼ cups) Cheerios

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until smooth and remove the bowl from the pan.
2. Melt the white chocolate in the same way and remove from the heat. Add the peanut butter to the white chocolate and stir well until smooth.
3. Add 33g (1 cup) of Cheerios to the melted dark chocolate and stir thoroughly until all the hoops are covered with chocolate. Add the remaining Cheerios to the melted white chocolate and do the same.
4. Now you need at least 10 x 5cm (2in) acrylic fillable baubles. Fill one half with white chocolate cheerios and the other with dark chocolate cheerios.
5. When putting the two bauble halves together, ensure that the fillings are touching each other so that they stick together in the chilling process. Chill for 2-3 hours until firm.
6. Remove the chocolate balls from the bauble casings.
7. Melt a bit of chocolate and dip one cheerio in it. Attach the dipped cheerio onto the chocolate ball. Repeat the process, until all balls are transformed into baubles.
8. Place the baubles onto a plate and chill for 10 minutes.
9. Use a hook or string to attach to your Christmas tree! Happy munching!

NOTES

• If you’re not keen on dark chocolate, you can use milk chocolate too.
• You can also use the microwave to speed things up when melting the chocolate. Remember to give it 10 second blasts and stir in between until it’s all melted.
• You can use different sized baubles to change things up.
• Alternatively, you can create a homemade foodie gift for special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas. This will entail putting all the assembled concoctions in one block. Here’s how to do it: Line a shallow tin with greased baking parchment. Drop alternate spoonfuls of each chocolate mix into the prepared tin, then tap the tin to level the mixture. Chill for 2-3 hours until firm. Turn out onto a board and wrap in cellophane. Keep chilled in the fridge until giving it away.
• Another option is simply to use a lined muffin tin and filling them with the white and dark chocolate cheerios.