Chocolate Crunch Bars

What You Need:

• 1 ¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup cream
• ½ cup rice cereal
• Non-stick spray
• Small saucepan
• Medium mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Small cookie sheet
• Whisk
• Mixing spoon
• Dish towel
• Pizza wheel

What You Do:

1. Start by having your child wash her hands.
2. Now your third grader can place the cookie sheet in the freezer. This will help the candy bar set up quickly.
3. Have your child measure 1 ¾ cups of chocolate chips into the mixing bowl and ½ cup of cream into the saucepan.
4. Turn the heat under the saucepan to medium-low and encourage your child to stir the cream constantly to prevent burning.
5. The cream should be heated just until it starts to come to a boil. Explain to your child that she needs to keep a sharp lookout for the tiny bubbles that will start to form across the surface.
6. As soon as the cream starts to boil, help your third grader pour the cream over the chocolate chips and immediately cover the bowl with a clean dish towel.
7. Let the bowl sit for one minute. Explain that this is to let the cream melt the chocolate chips.
8. After one minute, have your child remove the dish towel and mix the cream and chocolate together with a whisk. The mixture should become smooth and glossy. If your cream wasn’t hot enough, the chocolate chips will not melt completely. Don’t panic! Put the bowl in the microwave for 25 seconds and continue whisking.
9. When the chocolate mixture is smooth, have your child remove the cookie sheet from the freezer and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
10. Your third grader should smooth a thin layer of the chocolate across the bottom of the cookie sheet until completely covered.
11. Next your child may shake ½ cup of rice cereal across the surface of the chocolate until evenly distributed.
12. Have your child pour the remaining chocolate over the layer of cereal and smooth with a spoon if necessary.
13. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to harden for at least two hours.
14. Remove the cookie sheet from the refrigerator and have your child cut the candy into squares or rectangles using the pizza wheel.
15. Enjoy!

These crunch bars are not as sweet as the ones you find in the store.If your child does not like the taste of dark chocolate, substitute milk chocolate chips for the semi-sweet chips.