Peanut Butter Brown Rice Bubble Bars

Again, this is me very loosely following this week’s theme. In actual fact, it’s another recipe I’ve had waiting for months and months for the chance to get onto the blog – how good MoFo has been for prompting me to get these neglected posts up at last. I’m squeezing it in under ‘memories’ as I guess this idea originally came from the memory of those rice bubble marshallow bars designed for kids lunchboxes. I was tempted to call them ‘rice krispies’ or ‘rice krispy treats’ as I’m pretty sure they are called in America, but it didn’t sound right. We ate ‘rice bubbles’ as children, so these are ‘rice bubble bars’. In Australia, the Kelloggs branded bars were called LCMs, and my brother and I very rarely got to have them (probably a good thing). I think they were reserved for special days like sports carnivals.

I’ve made these a bit healthier than the originals, removing the marshmallows and using natural PB, rice malt syrup and coconut oil with brown rice bubbles instead. That’s not to say these are great for you – there’s still a good dose of sugar from the syrup, but hey, a little won’t hurt. Wink!

Peanut Butter Brown Rice Bubble Bars
(makes approx 16 squares)

4 cups brown rice bubbles
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt

Topping
I cup dark choc chips
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Line a 20x20cm (8x8inch) pan with baking paper.

In a saucepan, heat peanut butter, rice malt syrup, coconut oil and salt over medium heat, stirring to combine. When the mixture is smooth and creamy and starts to simmer at the edges, turn off the heat and stir in vanilla.

Place rice bubbles in a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over and stir to combine. Press into prepared tin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Put in the freezer to set.

To prepare the topping, heat chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler until melted. Remove base from freezer and pour chocolate over the top. Put in the fridge to set. If you can, wait 8-12 hours before cutting, as it can crumble a bit when you cut it too early, but if you’re desperate you can dig in as soon as the chocolate has set.