It’s the time of year for bars, squares, cookies and goodies. Yum! And it doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice the quality of what you eat to satisfy that holiday sweet tooth. Simple swaps like crispy puffed brown rice over that commercial brand and coconut oil instead of chemically produced margarines will make sure that your contribution to the cookie platter is a real food, non-guilt inducing treat.

This is what I call ‘Holiday Cheer’. 🙂

Being a self proclaimed almond freak, it was a nice change of pace to have some peanuts on hand to snack on. They were so lovely and added just the right amount of crunch to these bars.

Even though I was adding peanuts, I still used crunchy peanut butter as my base. You can never be too rich or have too many peanuts, as they say. 😉

I used the same saucepan to stir in the brown rice crispy cereal before pressing it into a parchment lined 9×9 dish.

Then … I thought about how much chocolate I would normally use for this recipe … and … doubled it. Boom.

The whole idea was for these to taste like a chocolate bar or candy bar with a nice thick slab of chocolate on top. It is the holiday season, yes?

They cut into lovely squares, which I ended up cutting into even smaller squares after shooting the pictures. With that chunk of chocolate on top and a bit of protein from those peanuts and the peanut butter I found these to be really satisfying.

Like, I didn’t need to eat six of them. 😉

Enjoy!



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0 from 0 votes Print Rice Crispy & Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars – Gluten Free & Vegan Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 5 mins Chill 20 mins Total Time 15 mins Course: Dessert, Snack Cuisine: American Keyword: chocolate rice crispy bars Servings : 16 Calories : 279 kcal Author : Sharon Ingredients BOTTOM LAYER:

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup maple syrup

½ cup coconut sugar

pinch of sea salt

1 tsp coconut oil

½ tsp vanilla

½ cup peanuts

2 cups crispy brown rice cereal

TOP LAYER:

2 cups dark chocolate chips

4 tbsp coconut oil Instructions Line a 9x9 dish with parchment and set aside In a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, melt together the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and coconut oil until smooth and blended. Remove from the heat and stir in the sea salt and vanilla. Next stir in the peanuts and cereal Spread into your prepared dish and press it firmly with the back of your spoon until even. Place the dish in the freezer Meanwhile, over medium low heat in a small sauce pan, melt together the chocolate chips and coconut oil until completely smooth Pour over the base and place back in the freezer to set for about 20 minutes Slice into squares and store in the fridge or freezer Nutrition Facts Rice Crispy & Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars – Gluten Free & Vegan Amount Per Serving Calories 279 Calories from Fat 153 % Daily Value* Fat 17g 26% Saturated Fat 10g 63% Sodium 72mg 3% Potassium 254mg 7% Carbohydrates 28g 9% Fiber 1g 4% Sugar 17g 19% Protein 5g 10% Vitamin C 0.1mg 0% Calcium 87mg 9% Iron 0.7mg 4% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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