Old-School Cocoa Puff Bars

Once upon a time, I was a student at a very large Mennonite high school.  Later I was a teacher at this same school.  I ate in the cafeteria and those cooks did a pretty good job, better than other school cafeterias I've eaten in (but not as good as Mennonites at home).

They served a dessert called cocoa puff bars and I loved them. I can't actually now recall which lunch the bars went with, although I have never forgotten the green beans with the mac and cheese, the flabby pizza, and hot sauce with the Vietnam fried rice.

I remembered those bars a month or so ago and suddenly realized: I could make them!  And eat them again!  But alas, a Google search showed me that there are several versions of cocoa puff bars around (one, oddly, with a ganache topping; these are cocoa puffs, people, and they are not gourmet).

So I emailed the head cook of this Mennonite school, and she sent me the bulk recipe in pounds.  She said she had to hunt for it in an old file, which makes it sound like cocoa puff bars are no longer on the menu and I feel sorry for the current students.

They are super-simple to make and the cocoa puffs give a delicious crunch in the rich peanut-buttery goo.  If you can ignore the questionable nature of the puffs (what, exactly, are they?), these bars are wonderful.

I've made these bars twice now, and both times I finished the box by dumping the cocoa puffs into a finished batch of chocolate buckwheat granola with a fierce ironic glee. Health food: meet strange food!  Wheeee!

Cocoa Puff Bars, the old-school Mennonite version

Heat together (I do this in a large pot):
1/3 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

Stir to melt.  Turn off heat and add:
1 cup chocolate chips

Stir again.  Fold in:
7 cups cocoa puffs

Press and smooth mixture gently into lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover. Cool to room temperature. Cut into bars.