APRICOT & GOJI BERRY PUFFED RICE BARS

These could be considered a fancy version of kitchen-sink bars. After a disastrous attempt at making vegan white chocolate cookies with a veeery watery fake white chocolate bar the other night, I ran out of flour, oil and pretty much everything you need to bake something edible. However, upon inspecting the kitchen cupboard looking for treats yesterday evening after work (I did find treats by the way. And consequently ate the treats. A lot of them. BAD), I also discovered a sad-looking pack of puffed rice lying there at the back, together with two little bags of equally sad-looking dried apricots. I also had a pack of goji berries, and I actually had been looking for some nice recipe to use them in. Add an opened jar of peanut butter and ta-daah. Mission accomplished. No more abandoned puffed rice. No more forgotten dried apricots. This has cleared some space in my cupboard (and officially allows me to refill it asap), and after throwing everything in a pan (everything but the kitchen sink, as they say), has brought to life some lovely, quite healthy puffed rice bars, which are also vegan and gluten free. I can’t really complain, can I! Should you want to experiment with these bars yourselves, feel free to throw in whatever you have in your cupboard (yeh ok, within reason): dried fruit/nuts of any kind all work a treat (!) here.

APRICOT & GOJI BERRY PUFFED RICE BARS

with peanut butter drizzle

115g (3 cups) puffed rice

150g (3/4 cup) dried apricots, chopped

30g (1/4 cup) dried goji berries

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

110g (1/2 cup) natural peanut butter

160g (1/2 cup) agave syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut butter drizzle:

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 ½ teaspoon agave syrup

Lightly grease a cake tin/tray. In a large bowl, mix together puffed rice, chopped apricots, goji berries and ground flaxseed and set aside. Place the peanut butter, agave syrup and vanilla extract in a small pan over a low/medium heat and stir until all melted and combined. Pour the mixture over the rice, fruit and flaxseed, then stir with a spoon making sure the dry ingredients are thoroughly coated. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, pressing evenly and very firmly with the back of the spoon. Place in the fridge and allow to set for about 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, make the drizzle. In a small pan, melt peanut butter, coconut oil and agave syrup. Drizzle the melted mixture over the top using a spoon and return to the fridge. It should set in about an hour. Cut into bars and enjoy!