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These chewy pistachio bars are made with Special K cereal and homemade pistachio butter. The pistachio special K bar gets topped with dark chocolate to create an elevated version of a Midwestern classic. So if you love Scotcharoos, then you’ll love these Pistachio Chocolate Bars!
I grew up with Scotcharoos at every get-together, holiday or gathering you can imagine. My grandma Gusty makes THE best scotcharoos. So I used her recipe and method as a reference for these pistachio bars.
Originally, I tested these pistachio bars using ruby chocolate. The color is gorgeous and I thought the tanginess would pair nicely with the pistachios. After about 4 different tests and some helpful feedback from taste testers, ruby chocolate was just too sweet for the bars. So a combo of semi-sweet and dark chocolate is what these bars get.
Additionally, my early testes were either completely or partially sweetened with honey. And while it’s tasty, I found the pistachio bars set up a little too hard when honey is used as the liquid sweetener.
So, for this recipe, I use the traditional combination of granulated sugar and cornsyrup. Some things just don’t need to be messed with!
Finally, to really enhance the overall pistachio flavor, I found roasting the raw pistachios and adding a splash of almond extract really brings out the flavor of the nut.
Ten recipe tests later, I’ve landed on a recipe I think you’ll love. It’s familiar and recognizable while being uniquely brand new. Let’s make them!
Ingredient Notes
The ingredient list for these pistachio bars is fairly straightforward. Special K cereal, sugar, corn syrup, etc. Below are a few specialty ingredients you will need and why.
- Raw pistachios: use raw, shelled pistachios here. For this recipe, you’ll roast the nuts to deepen their and warm them up so they are easier to blend into a butter. Whatever you do, don’t use salted nuts or the bars will be far too salty.
- Almond extract: I spent a good amount of time (and money) seeking out pistachio extract. And you know what? It tastes just like almond extract, sp use that instead. You only need ¼ teaspoon—don’t be temped to add more or you risk it overpowering, not enhancing, the pistachio nut flavor.
- Dark chocolate chips: I like Guittard extra-dark chocolate chips. They’ve got great flavor and are high quality.
How to Make These Bars
Roast the pistachios until toasted and fragrant, this will take about 8 minutes. Then let the nuts cool for about 10 minutes before processing them until a smooth butter is formed.
Traditionally, scotcharoos are made with chunky peanut butter. To mimic the chunky nut butter, set aside 2 tablespoons of nuts to be pulsed in at the end.
Add the oil, salt, extract and reserved nuts and process just until combines and butter is loose.
In a large pot, heat the corn syrup and sugar together, stirring occasionally, just until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan.
Add the pistachio butter, remove from heat, and mix to combine. Add the cereal and, working very quickly, mix everything together until all of the cereal is coated.
Dump mixture out into a greased quarter sheet pan and spread into an even layer. Set this aside to cool while you melt the chocolate chips.
Add the two types of chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and melt them in the microwave in 30 second increments. I recommend heating on 50% power to slowly melt the chocolate—this will keep you from scorching the chocolate.
Spread the melted chocolate over the bars and transfer to the fridge to chill until set. Once set, cut into squares and enjoy.
Test Kitchen Tips
- I tested this recipe every which way, and really wanted to come up with a formula for store-bought pistachio butter. The problem is that pistachio butters are all so different and most are simply too sweet for this recipe. So, you may be tempted to use jarred pistachio butter, but don’t!
- Press the cereal mixture into an even layer in the sheetpan but don’t pack it down too tightly. You still want there to be a bit of air in the bars so they stay light and chewy, not dense and hard.
Storage
I recommend keeping these bars in the fridge in an airtight container. Set them out at room temperature for 15 minutes or so prior to enjoying so they can soften and become chewy again.
For longer storage, you can freeze them. Just them them overnight in the fridge before you intend to serve them.
Chewy Pistachio Bars with Chocolate
Description
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Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245g; 8.6 oz) raw, unsalted shelled pistachios
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract or pistachio extract
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (250g) light corn syrup
- 4 ½ cups (120g) Special K cereal
- ¾ cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup (142g) extra dark (63%) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350ºF (177ºC).
- Arrange 1¾ cups pistachios on a quarter sheet pan (13×9-inch) and roast until lightly golden brown and fragrant, 8–10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Measure out and set aside 2 tablespoons roasted pistachios.
- Add remaining (slightly warm) nuts to a food processor and blend until it goes from sandy to nut butter texture (it will likely blend into a large ball), about 3 minutes.
- Add reserved 2 tablespoons pistachios, 2 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon almond extract; process until smooth with a few pistachio chunks, about 10 seconds. Wipe out quarter sheet pan (used to roast nuts) and grease with oil; set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat ¾ cup sugar and ¾ cup corn syrup over medium, stirring occasionally, just until bubbles start to form around edges of pan. Add pistachio butter, remove from heat and stir to combine. Add 4 ½ cups cereal and, using a rubber spatula, work quickly to mix together.
- Transfer to greased quarter sheet pan and press into an even layer (but don’t pack it down!). Set aside to cool.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate and ½ cup dark chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second increments on 50% power, stirring after each increment, until smooth. Spread onto scotcharoo and chill in fridge 30 minutes.
- Cut as desired and enjoy. These are best served at room temperature, but I recommend storing them in an airtight container in the fridge. Let them come to room temperature before enjoying.
