Chocodiles aka Chocodile Bars are adapted from an old Pillsbury Bake-Off. They're bar cookies with a firm peanut butter base and a chocolate crunch topping. The chocolate crunch topping is made with melted chocolate, peanut butter, and a cereal called Corn Soya which I’d never heard of and had to look up on Mr. Breakfast. It sounds kind of good, but I guess it wasn’t good enough because it no longer exists. Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes are good substitutes.
You can make the recipe as written or halve it and use a 9 inch square pan. I think an 11x7 inch pan would also work well for a half batch. The bars don't have a ton of peanut butter flavor, so you may want to add some chopped peanuts to the batter or sprinkle peanuts on top.
A Food.com reader shared her Chocodile Bars recipe which is pretty much the same as the original and the one I made today. However, I made a little change and put marshmallow creme underneath the chocolate crunch.
Also, if you’ve ever eaten Corn Soya, I’d like to know about it. Specifically, what modern cereal would be most like it in texture and flavor? Corn Flakes? Thank you.
Recipe
Chocodile Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (370 grams)
- 1 ¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar (250 grams)
- ½ cup butter or margarine (114 grams)
- ½ cup Crisco (96 grams)
- 6 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (100 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups Corn Flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour and sugar to mix. Cut up butter and add butter and shortening. Pulse until crumbly. Add peanut butter and pulse to mix, then add egg yolk and vanilla and pulse so that you have a crumbly dough.
- Press mixture firmly into ungreased 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch jellyroll pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool slightly.
- Make the Chocolate Crunch: Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over boiling water. Stir in crunchy peanut butter and cereal. Spread over bake peanut butter layer and let cool until set.
- Yield: 3 to 4 dozen cookies
Holly says
My mother has made those for... 30+ years? But in a modified version. She always used Rice Crispies in them, though the older version of Rice Crispies (AKA the "new" Gluten Free Rice Krispies) have more substance and make a better bar. She also made some alterations to the base recipe with butter and less flour. 😉
They're a family Christmas favorite.
Julie kuhn says
I've made these cookies for years and have eaten them for over 40 years. My mom always make them with cornflakes, never rice krispies.
Linda says
My recipe is one my neighbor gave me 45 years ago. It calls for Corn Flakes. Very delicious
Cathy says
I am so excited to find this Chocodile recipe! My sister and her family will be in town this weekend and I wanted to make them for her. This is my mother's recipe - she won the Jr. Division of the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1957 with these Chocodiles. She explains the Corn Soya as having the flavor of corn flakes and the texture of All-Bran. She chooses to make them with corn flakes. I'm heading to the kitchen to make them right now . . . 🙂
Anna says
Marjie, thanks for posting your version. I am sure I will like yours better since it uses less flour. I'm also glad to see yours calls for butter.
The version I tried wasn't bad, it just seemed a little dry and not quite peanutty enough. Yours looks perfect!
marjie says
On looking again my recipe is different. I got it out of the Pillsbury family cookbook I got over 30 years ago. My recipe is a winner and loved by TEENAGERS especially, is as follows:
Chocodiles
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (I always use butter instead)
1/3 cup peanut butter crunchy or creamy
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
Heat oven to 350*. In large bowl combine first six ingredients, blend well. Stir in flour and salt, mix well. Press dough into ungreased 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool slightly. Spread crunch topping over crust. Cool slightly cut into bars and then Cool completely.
Chocolate Crunch Topping
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups slightly crushed corn flakes cereal
In medium pan over low heat melt chocolate chips. Stir in peanut butter and corn flakes. Spread over slightly cooled crust.
* i usually make half the crunch topping with butterscotch chips to cover one half of the pan and chocolate chips for the other half.
Asia Jo says
I would love to grab one of those cookies now 🙂 They look so yummy and that marshmallow creme adds a lot to an arty presentation of your cookies 🙂
Faine says
Any relation to the chocolate-covered Twinkies of olden days? Madness. These look scrumptious.
I understand why Corn Soya went under. Not a yummy sounding name.
Anna says
Laura, corn puffs would work too. The bars would have an interesting shaped top, to be sure. I'd probably go with Kix.
Marjie, thanks! I liked them too. I wish I'd served them to more people for second opinions. The Rice Krispies were good, but corn cereal would have been better.
By the way, did anyone notice I called them "Crocodile Bars" instead of "Chocodile Bars"? That wasn't on purpose. I kept thinking Chocodile but typing Crocodile.
marjie says
I have made these a million times..they are my my kids favorite. MY recipe calls for corn flakes! Very yummy addicting bars. I make half with peanut butter choc chips and corn flakes..and the other half with peanut butter butterscotch chips and corn flakes....WE love them both ....YUM!
Laura E. says
All the twig cereal seems to be made of bran these days but for taste maybe try corn puffs?
http://www.arrowheadmills.com/category/puffs
http://www.naturespath.com/products/cold%20cereals?tid=5&brand=All&nutri=All
Anna says
Here's a good picture of it. It looks like All Bran but with the flavor of Corn Flakes and protein from soy. I'd totally buy that cereal.
http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/pictures/kelloggs-home-07-01-1949-138.jpg
Martha in KS says
I found some pix of Corn Soya ads and it looks like chinese noodles, which makes sense because I found a reference to making "haystacks" with this cereal.
http://www.mrbreakfast.com/cereal_detail.asp?id=99
justine says
These look so tasty- maybe because peanut butter and chocolate if an infallible combination!
Louise says
My husband loves cereal and keeps no fewer than 13 boxes in his working cereal collection. He has no recollection of Kellogg's Corn Soya. I showed him the ads and still nothing. It certainly looks like All Bran made from corn and soy. I think next time you should try corn flakes.
Katrina says
Hmm, I just looked around and was picturing after just hearing the name Corn Soya the one called Corn Bran, from Quaker, which I THINK still exists. Those would make for bumpier-crocodile looking bars. 😉
Mary Beth says
I've never eaten Corn Soya, but from the pictures it looks a little like Fiber One. Maybe you could try that one next time?