A few weeks ago I had to go to the doctor to have a splinter removed. Yeah, I know. Lame. I had been pruning these ginormous barberry bushes we have in our backyard, and despite very thick gloves, managed to get a splinter lodged in my finger so deeply that I had no choice.
I stopped at the drug store to buy some bandages after my little $97-splinter-debacle – short on time and long on things to do. In a rush, I thought I’d just grab some sort of bar for a snack as I headed back to work. Being the drugstore, the selection wasn’t the best – there were no Lara Bars, Clif Bars, or, really, any bars I would generally eat. But, there was a curious bar called “Fullbar” that had relatively few ingredients, all of which I could pronounce. I picked it up and off I went.
As it turns out, these Fullbars are supposed to help with weight loss, as you are supposed to eat them 30 minutes before a meal to control your hunger during said meal. Interesting concept. I thought they were not bad, but at $2.50 each, it is hard to justify buying them, especially because I’m not really using them for their intended purpose and because they are just puffed wheat cereal bars. I have to say though, these bars are pretty filling – likely because the puffed wheat expands in your stomach when you drink water.
Sadly, I think these bars are just another case of overpriced “diet foods” because people looking to lose weight will generally pay any price (within reason) for anything they believe will indeed help them lose weight. I actually liked the bars, I just think it’s sad they are priced so high.
With fairly simple ingredients, I thought I could replicate them at home, so I did, except mine have only four ingredients. And, they cost a heckuva lot less than $2.50 each! It took two tries to get it right, as I initially thought I could just use honey instead of brown rice syrup. That’d be a “no” – brown rice syrup is apparently a better binder. The batch with honey tasted fine but did not hold together.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just like the convenience of bars, these bars are super easy and filling. No need to pay $2.50 per bar for pre-made. A batch of 10 will set you back about $4 total if you amortize the cost of the ingredients. Here is how I got that number – based on roughly the amount of times you could get the recipe quantity out of one standard sized container of the ingredients:
$3.69 – peanut butter (15 oz)/ 4 = $.92
$6.99 – brown rice syrup (21 oz)/5 = $1.40
$2.19 – puffed wheat cereal/2 (6 oz) = $1.10
$7.49 – peanut flour/30 (16 oz) = $.25
Total: $3.67 for 10 bars, or $.37 each.
DIY Full Bars
Makes: 10 bars
Ingredients:
- 6 cups puffed wheat cereal
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
- 2 tablespoons peanut flour (optional)
- Spray a sheet pan (9×12 would be good) and set aside
- Place puffed wheat cereal into a large bowl
- Melt peanut butter, brown rice syrup together in a small saucepan over low heat; stir in peanut flour
- Pour melted mixture over the puffed rice cereal and combine (quickly)
- Pour coated cereal into the sheet pan and press firmly to smooth out into an even consistency
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting into bars (you do not have to store them in the refrigerator)
Nutrition
Here is a comparison of homemade vs. store bought bars. Pretty close indeed.
| DIY Full Bars | vs. store bought Full Bars |
View Comments (25)
Youre my HERO!!! I LOVE these bars but am pregnant and only using them as a bed time snack so I won’t wake up starving at 4am daily! I can’t believe you cracked the code! I’m sooo happy! These are the only thing I crave lately & that’s a lot of money to buy them full price for the next 6 months! ….lowest I found them was $7.99 for 6 (on sale) probably for the New Year Resolutions, etc…. Anyway…. I’m so darn thrilled! Please send me a Facebook add? I’m always cooking & sharing great recipes but you are someone I’d love to get recipes & cooking advice from! Thanks again!
Hi Meg,
Oh, I am so happy you will be able to use these! If you get a little crazy, you may want to experiment over time and add a little added fiber – like a bit of ground flax seed or maybe oat bran (not too much though!), which will help you stay fuller longer. I like these bars but was so frustrated at just how expensive they are for what they are, so I figured they would be easy to make at home.
Good luck with your pregnancy and thanks for stopping by!
Yes! Matter of fact my twin sister (who lives next door to me) is ALSO pregnant (10 days ahead of me) and she has been looking for healthier ways to incorporate nutritional snacks and keep her full when she’s working (@Starbucks/busy shifts)…. Long story short, we made them tonight and my husband & 3 year old enjoyed a square for dessert! I highly recommend using a kitchen aid mixer to save on time and elbow grease. I used lowfat peanut butter too. I’m half wondering if I could add fiber without compromising texture or flavor by mixing in some Benigiber tasteless suppliment into the melted mixture prior to mixing? I can ALSO see these being a more nutritional option for kids “treats” although if I was serving it at a party for kids I’d likely double the mixture And drizzle with chocolate…. But that defeats any other purpose of weight loss & sensible snacking, etc…. Do you have a Facebook Site or Page I could “Like”???
Meg, that is GREAT! I am so happy they are working out for you.
In terms of adding fiber, I think you could definitely do so, but you will likely need to up the amount of the “liquid” ingredients to help everything stick together – though just a little. Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you! You could also try swapping out some of the peanut flour for oat bran to get a little fiber boost.
I don’t have a Facebook page to “like”, sorry! It’s just me and this little blog.
Thank you so much for the receipe! I actually took it a bit off course and swapped in organic agave syrup (instead of the brown rice syrup) and wheat flour (instead of peanut flour). Its not gluten free but it works great for my girlfriend and I. I’ve been looking for a receipe for full bars for the exact same reason (local mart by me has them on sale 2/$3, best I’ve seen them for yet). Now I can make a batch myself for cheap. I use it to help me from eating too much while at work and to keep me from filling up on junk from the vending machine. Even trying to think of better ways to add protein! Thanks again!
Hi Dru,
Awesome that you have been able to use this to make your own custom Full Bars. ?
Thanks for the note – you made me smile!
Angela
When you subbed organic agave syrup (instead of the brown rice syrup) and wheat flour (instead of peanut flour), did you have an issue with binding, or did it work out?
Great recipe. Thanks.
Hi i was wondering if you can put up a recipe of this but with chocolate or caramel instead of peanut butter
Hi Cat,
Unfortunately, right now I am in the middle of a whole house remodel and don’t presently have a kitchen. However, I have been thinking about this for a while and today I stumbled across something I think would work for you for the “caramel” flavor. I am not really for adding straight up caramel, as it is just pretty much sugar with no nutritional value, and there is already brown rice syrup in the recipe. HOWEVER, you could make caramel out of medjool dates that I think would work great for this.
I would use the caramel recipe from this vegan Twix bar recipe over at Healthful Pursuit: . You may have to adjust the ratios a little to get an equal amount to the peanut butter, but I really think this will work! Give it a try and let me know.
Angela
These are good but for some reason my bars are falling apart. Any suggestion on what I am doing wrong? I put in fridge foe 30 min and still crumbling apart. Help please. Thx
Hi Kami,
Are you using the brown rice syrup? That is the binder, and it can’t be subbed for honey or maple syrup – it needs to be the brown rice syrup to make them stick together. The other idea is you may need to add a little more of the brown rice syrup next time to make them stick.
Angela
Oh, I thought someone used agave as substitute. That is what I used. Where can I get brown rice syrup? Trader Joes?
Thx
Ah, yes, that’s likely the issue!
You can get brown rice syrup at Whole Foods, which is where I get it. Not sure if they have it at Trader Joe’s. You can probably also find it at most more “healthy” grocery stores. Here is the one I use (though I doubt you want to wait for it to come from Amazon!)
Hope that helps!
Angela
Thank you! I will get some and try. Can’t wait. Thx
So I made these today with great success! I tweaked the recipe though because there isn’t a place where I live that sells brown rice syrup. I used honey instead. The key was to heat the honey long enough to the point where it was not longer “frothy,” about five to ten minutes on medium heat, might take more or less time depending on what kind of stove you have. I also used 2 tablespoons of peanut butter instead of 1/2 a cup. After mixing everything together I pressed it down really well in a pan lined with parchment paper and then stuck it in the fridge for a couple hours. It stuck together really well as I was cutting it up and I plan on keeping the bars in the fridge for now. Not sure how they will do at room temp, but they seemed to hold together well as I ate them.
Hope this helps someone looking for an alternative to the rice syrup!
Oh my gosh, Nikki, thank you! That is great to know and I’m sure many people will like that tip, as you pretty much need a Whole Foods or to order from Amazon to get the brown rice syrup. Excellent!
I’m gonna try to replicate them, however, they also have peanuts & tree nuts (almonds pecans cashews walnuts and hazelnuts. I think the nuts would make it more like the original bar. Also, it has potato flakes which I think is what makes it swell up and make you full…just a suggestion
Hi Barbara,
Hmm, the original peanut butter bars that I bought didn’t have tree nuts or potato flakes, but, I haven’t bought one of these in a while. I’ll take a look next time I’m at the store to see if they have changed the ingredients… Thanks for your note!
In your list of ingredients purchased, “puffed rice cereal” was listed, but in the directions “puffed wheat cereal” add used. Which one do you use?
Hi Shannon,
Oh my, I can’t believe I never noticed that and no one else said something. I’ll fix it! It should be puffed wheat in both cases to mimic the Full Bar, but you could use either. Thank you for letting me know!
Angela
Does this work well with natural peanut butter?
Hi Janet, yes it sure does. (In fact, that is all I buy if I don’t make my own).
Have fun!
This looks like a good recipe, but it has much less fiber than the original & a little less protein. Wonder if whey protein could be used in place of the flour?
Hi Paula,
I think you could use whey protein in place of the peanut flour (which I added because it is high in protein). To increase the fiber, you could also probably add a little ground flaxseed or wheat germ, but you may have to add a little more liquid ingredients to make everything mix up well.
Let me know how it works out if you modify!
Angela