Remember krisp rice treats?  Those ooey, gooey, cubes of crunchy, sweet, deliciousness… (or is that just me?).  Anyway, two of my kids are gluten free which means those bars don’t happen in our household.  However, the other day I was looking in our gluten free cupboard (yep, we have separate cupboards) and trying to come up with a treat for the kids since the weekend and grocery shopping were still a couple days away.

I took note of the Envirokidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and Nature’s Path Whole O’s cereals in the cabinet that we had been sent earlier in the week to try out, then I recalled that I still had a stash of homemade marshmallows on hand.  So, I grabbed the recipe book and 20 minutes later, we were munching on a new crispy, sweet treat.  (BTW, the kids ADORE Peanut Butter Panda Puffs with soy milk and strawberries for breakfast or snack as well.)

Here’s the recipe we used.  We often play with our ingredients to find just the right combination of textures and flavors.  Try adding in some dried fruit, granola or coconut.  (Be sure to add an extra marshmallow or two to offset the added dry ingredients.)

Sweet (Gluten Free) Cereal Bars

10 oz natural marshmallows (we make our own, but you can buy them at natural food stores)

3 cups Peanut Butter Panda Puffs cereal

3 cups Whole O’s cereal

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/4 cup vegan margarine (we like Earth Balance)

1 tsp. gluten free vanilla extract

Place a large pot over medium heat, melt the margarine and marshmallows (stir frequently).  Once melted, remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir well.  Add cereals and nuts.  Mix until coated.  Pour into a pan prepared with spray or coated with margarine (13×9 works well).  Allow to cool until firm, slice and enjoy.

A new twist the kids love is to top them with mini Enjoy Life Chocolate chips and allow to cool or melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the top.  Yum.  Be sure to store any leftovers in an airtight container.

(Note on using powder sugar and cornstarch in marshmallows… if you cannot have corn, skip traditional powder sugar by processing evaporated cane sugar in the blender or food processor until fine, add small amounts of tapioca starch until you have powder sugar. Replace corn starch in recipe with tapioca or other preferred starch.)