Tag Archives: Manuka Honey

Chocolate Crunchy Squares/Bars

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Here are my rice krispie square and granola bar inspired "Chocolate Crunchy Squares or Bars". They are sweet, chewy, gooey and of course crunchy! :)

Here are my rice krispie square and granola bar inspired “Chocolate Crunchy Squares or Bars”. They are sweet, chewy, gooey and of course crunchy!

Two nights ago I was suddenly craving for rice krispie square, a fond memory of a yummy treat from my childhood, and at the same time, I wanted granola bar as a snack for my day trip the next day.  It is quite strange yet I guess it’s a natural response, as I slowly move towards healthy eating, I no longer feel the compulsion to buy a snack outside (e.g. from vending machine, fast food etc.) to satiate my hunger.  I rather bring my own healthy snack to munch on or wait till I go home to make something nutritious.  As a result, I decided to combine my desires for both a rice krispie square and a granola bar into creating the following healthy snack recipe.

I hope you enjoy making and sharing my Chocolate Crunchy Squares or Bars with your family and friends, as much as I did! 🙂

 

Makes: 24 squares or 12 bars

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

 

Special Notes:

-You can substitute any cereal into the recipe and it doesn’t have to be gluten-free.  I made it gluten-free to suit my dietary needs.

-If you have a sweet tooth, this recipe is most definitely for you!  The squares/bars are extremely sweet.  If you don’t want them that sweet, you can decrease the amount of honey into 2/3 cup, and the chocolate chips into 1/4 cup.

-Please store no more than 2 days at room temperature in airtight container, covered with parchment paper.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup manuka honey

2 cups gluten-free cereal (I like Nature’s Path Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla Cereal; it has corn, rice, flax, quinoa, buckwheat & amaranth)

1 cup rolled oats (wheat-free & dairy-free)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

  1. Warm up honey on medium heat until it simmers in a saucepan.
  2. Remove from heat.
  3. Immediately add cereal and rolled oats in the saucepan, and stir evenly.
  4. Quickly add sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and mix well.
  5. Reheat mixture in saucepan on medium heat, and quickly stir in the chocolate chips until well coated.  The chocolate chips should melt within seconds.
  6. Remove from heat and press mixture evenly into a baking tray (lined with parchment paper).
  7. Cool mixture completely before cutting into either squares or bars.
  8.  Enjoy! 🙂