Recipe ReDux Post # 53 Cheerio Treats

The December Recipe ReDux challenge centers around bidding a fond farewell to 2016.  We were encouraged to pick a page in a cookbook that was any combo of the digits 2016 and put our own healthy spin on it. I grabbed a gluten-free cookbook I was recently given titled “Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking” by Kelly Bronski and Peter Bronski and flipped to page 216, which had a recipe for rice cereal treats. It seemed lie a perfect recipe for this time of year, when treats and desserts are high in demand.  The recipe was a pretty classic combo of rice cereal, marshmallows and butter.  I happened to have a box of Cheerios in my pantry so I decided to use those in place of the rice cereal, and try a combo of peanut butter and honey for the base instead of marshmallows. They were so delicious and had a great texture. Substituting PB for marshmallows creates a surprisingly tasty treat and makes them all natural with less sugar and a bit more protein too! Plus they are SUPER easy to make which is a big plus during this busy holiday season.  I hope you will give them a try and check out all the other awesome recipes from the amazing Recipe ReDux group!! Click HERE to check out the recipes from the group.

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2.5 cups cheerios

pinch of salt (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract and mix well.  Stir in the cheerios and continue to mix until well incorporated. . Press mixture into an 8 by 8 inch pan. (Lining the pan with a large rectangular piece of parchment paper, placing the mixture on one side and then folding the paper over to press down works nicely since the dough is so sticky.)   Refrigerate for at least one hour until very firm and then cut into 16 squares.   Store in the fridge in an airtight container

Makes 16 squares, 16 servings

Serving size: 1 square Calories 140 Protein 4 g Carb 16 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 10 g Fat 7 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Sodium  88 mg