Pay Day Crunch is a peanut-filled snack or dessert that is sweet, crunchy and satisfying. This treat is great for family parties, tailgates, watching baseball games, races or other sporting events.
Pay Day Crunch
Pay Day Crunch is the perfect snack for sports fans!
My husband is a huge Cincinnati Reds baseball fan! We have Sling TV and he always upgrades from a basic package to get more channels during baseball season. This upgrade happens on opening day.
Since baseball has been on our TV lately I can’t get the song “Take me out to the ballgame. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks….” out of my head. The first time I made Pay Day Crunch all I could think about was what a perfect sports and baseball snack this recipe is.
Our son has also played baseball and this is his first season of soccer. It can be tricky to get farm chores done after school and work and get to the practice and games on time. Busy nights when we need nutrition on the go is another time that it’s nice to have a protein pack filling snack with a sweet flavor!
Spring is a super busy season on the farm, so as soon as planting is done and soccer games are wrapped up we hope to get to a baseball game!
What Are the Ingredients in Pay Day Crunch?
- Light Karo Syrup
- Peanut Butter
- Sugar
- Rice Chex Cereal
- Peanuts
- Vanilla
Is Pay Day a Healthy Candy Bar?
Pay Day Crunch has peanuts which provide nutritional value in the form of protein and some vitamins and minerals. The corn syrup and sugar make this dessert very sweet and higher in calories. Unfortunately, sugar doesn’t deliver as much nutritional value relative to the calories as most other foods. We enjoy eating small portions as a special treat!
Does This Pay Day Dessert Have Chocolate?
This version of a Pay Day dessert does not include chocolate. The peanuts make Pay Day Crunch more filling. The Chex cereal adds a nice crunch, the peanut butter helps bind everything together and the sugars make it sweet!
This treat would probably taste great and take on a whole new flavor profile with some chocolate added or sprinkled on top!
Tips for Making Pay Day Crunch
I like to jump right into the cooking portion of recipes and sometimes I overlook the preparation aspect. This recipe will be more successful when you take the time to line your pan with foil and measure out the dry ingredients before you begin cooking.
- When bringing the syrup, sugar, butter, and peanut butter to a boil stay close to the oven and stir frequently to prevent burning
- Pour hot mixture over peanuts and cereal in a separate bowl as opposed to adding ingredients to the pan on the oven
- Have spoon close by and be ready to stir quickly as this recipe will begin to set up fairly quickly
- Smooth in foil-lined pan and avoid pushing too hard as that can make the rice Chex cereal break
- Lift up on foil to remove the crunch from the pan to cut or break up
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days
Other Great Snacks for Parties and Tailgating
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bars
- Farmhouse Homemade Granola Bars
- Big Batch Homemade Brownies
- Gooey Marshmallow Brownies
- Almond Bark Specials
- Captain Crunch Cereal Bars
Printable Recipe for Pay Day Crunch
Pay Day Crunch
Ingredients
- 1 cup light Karo Syrup
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 6 cups rice Chex cereal
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups cocktail peanuts
Instructions
- Put cereal and peanuts in a large bowl. Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil.
- Bring Karo syrup, sugar and peanut butter to a boil over medium heat. Boil for one minute. Add vanilla and stir well.
- Pour over over cereal and nuts. Stir to coat. Pour into foil lined pan. Cool. Break or cut into chunks.
Notes
- When bringing the syrup, sugar, butter, and peanut butter to a boil stay close to the oven and stir frequently to prevent burning
- Pour hot mixture over peanuts and cereal in a separate bowl as opposed to adding ingredients to the pan on the oven
- Have spoon close by and be ready to stir quickly as this recipe will begin to set up fairly quickly
- Smooth in foil-lined pan and avoid pushing too hard as that can make the rice Chex cereal break
- Lift up on foil to remove the crunch from the pan to cut or break up
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days
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Nutrition
Shared on Weekend Potluck and Meal Plan Monday
This looks delicious! I love peanut desserts.
I’m giving it 5 stars before I even try it because I’m not a candy bar person = EXCEPT for PayDay bars! They are my very favorite and I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for sharing on Weekend Potluck!
Thanks so much!
This is almost identical to my recipe for pecans. I stir mine a few seconds longer because it gives the pecans a frosted look. My fave salad consists of baby greens, sliced pears, balsamic vinaigrette. Top with crumbled blue cheese and broken up pecans over the top. Very tasty!
How much butter for the Payday Crunch?
I’m sorry, I added butter to the ingredient list accidentally. There is only peanut butter in the recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Hello Jennifer,
Even though everyone in my family are huge Milwaukee Brewers fans, my son is a huge Cincinnati Reds fan. He seriously had a “man crush” on Joey Voitto. ( He’ll be mad because I spelled it wrong:) When they bring my grandson to his first Reds game in June, I’ll make them a pan of Payday Crunch for their trip! Lynn
Lynn – Sounds like a great plan! We hope everyone enjoys this recipe!
I make these every year but I am wondering. Can you freeze these. Will they freeze okay
Hey There! Great question – I haven’t tested this, but I wonder if the sticky stuff on the cereal would soak into the cereal and taste better as fresh as possible?
Hope you enjoy!
Made these for my husband to take to work. They disappeared very quickly! Followed recipe exactly. That was a few weeks ago. Making them again now as I type. This time I only had 4 cups of rice chex so I subbed the rest with rice crispies, other than that followed recipe exactly again. They look like they turned out the same. I’m excited to see them disappear again!