I'm a mother of a preschooler and like many others of his age he is also picky when it comes to food. Earlier I didn't have any problem at all with him during mealtime. He used to eat a lot of veggies, rice, chapathis and fruits etc. But not anymore. So these days I'm hunting for healthy and tasty recipes which appeal kids. While browsing the "Vegetarian Times - Fast and Easy" book I found many such recipes.
The crispy breakfast bar recipe, especially caught my attention because these were "no bake" bars which can be prepared in a jiffy and are healthy too. These are crunchy chewy bars. They get fiber and iron from whole-grain puffed cereal and protein from almond butter and almonds. The original recipe does not have almonds, but I added it to give the extra crunchiness and protein boost.
Following the basic method, one can come up with a couple of variations, like using peanut butter and peanuts, chocolate chips, etc to mention a few. A variety of whole-grain puffed cereals are available in the grocery stores these days. I saw puffed millet and other puffed cereals too.
The prep time is only 15 minutes, which includes the time to take out the stuff you need from your pantry and you have to freeze the mixture for 30 minutes. So in 45 minutes you have a healthy treat ready, without any elbow grease.
So how does it taste? As I have mentioned earlier, my son "the picky eater" loved it so much, he ate 2 pieces as soon as he got home from school. We adults also liked it very much. Actually it's a fancy "Pori Urundai" (puffed rice balls) with almond butter, raisins and honey instead of the jaggery syrup we Indians use.
Recipe
Vegan Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- 7 Cups Whole Grain Puffed Cereal I Used The Store Brand Puffed Wheat Cereal
- ¾ Cup Dried Cranberries
- ¾ Cup Raisins Or Dried Blueberries I Used Raisins
- ¾ Cup Sliced Almonds Toasted Not Mentioned In The Recipe But I Added It
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon I Omitted It
- ¾ Cup Brown Rice Syrup Or Honey I Used Honey
- ¾ Cup Almond Butter
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Margarine/Unsalted Butter I Used Earth Balance Vegan Butter
Instructions
- Stir together cereal, dried fruit, nuts and cinnamon (if using) in large bowl.
- Put syrup, almond butter and soy margarine (whichever you are using) in large, microwave-safe measuring cup.
- Microwave 1 and ½ minutes on high, or until hot and margarine has melted.
- Stir well, then pour over cereal mixture.
- Stir to coat.
- Dampen hands with cold water.
- Press cereal mixture firmly into 9x9 inch baking pan (I didn't have this, so I used 13x9 inch nonstick baking pan), re-wetting hands if necessary to keep mixture from sticking.
- Freeze 30 minutes. I covered the pan with plastic wrap before putting it in the freezer.
- Cut into 15 bars, and store in refrigerator up to 5 days.
My Notes
- For toasting almonds, heat a frying pan on the stove and add the sliced almonds, toss it for a couple of seconds. Be careful not to burn the almonds.
- If you are not into organic stuff, you can find almond butter very cheap in Trader Joe's. The organic brand is also cheaper there when compared to the price in the regular grocery store. The grocery store near my house carries only Nature's Promise Organic Almond Butter which is $12, but the organic butter in Trader Joe's is only $8 and if you choose to buy the inorganic it's only $4.59. That's a considerable amount of savings for me. You can also make your own almond butter.
Nutrition
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Shuvi Powers says
I just made these yesterday. These taste awesome but they completely fall apart. I used cashew butter instead of almond butter but otherwise I used the recipe to the T. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Madhuram says
Using cashew butter should not be a problem. I think it requires some more binding in the form of syrup or some more time in the fridge.
Hiral says
It fall apart totally! Any idea why? Can u help me? I did not used any nut or almond butter as I am allergic to all nuts.
Madhuram says
The nut butter is the binding agent, Hiral. Without it the bars will definitely fall apart.
Nicole says
These were AMAZING when I added Teddie's all natural peanut butter and melted it with the butter together!! YUM!! 🙂
Madhuram says
Thanks for trying Nicole.
lucy says
If you use honey in a recipe you can't label it vegan!
Madhuram says
That's right Lucy. It's vegan had I used brown rice syrup as the original recipe suggested.
Yojana says
Thanks for the prompt reply Madhu .. I will try these and let you know the result
Yojana says
Hi Madhu
Can I use puffed rice (mamra) or any other thing for this recipe instead of wheat cereal.. Please suggest.
You could Yojana. Puffed brown rice is also available in the grocery store.
veggirl555 says
These taste great but they fall apart :(. I wanted to make my hubby a snack that he could grab on the run. Do you have any suggestions that would make them stay together more?
I understand. It has to eaten immediately out of the refrigerator. Why don't you try these bars instead:
http://www.egglesscooking.com/chewy-granola-bars/
http://www.egglesscooking.com/eggless-fruit-nuts-bars/
Jennifer says
I am SO making these!!!!!
emily ..x says
Rashida Johnson says
I am so happy that I found this, just this week I made no bake oatmeal/coconut ( I added in the coconut) cookies for my daughter and they were very good. I try to make as many home made snacks as I can because buying healthy snacks from the store started to put a hole in my pocket. I am going to purchase the ingredients for this tomorrow and make them pronto. The alternatives are unlimited. You specify to use them up in 5 days. I will keep mine in the freezer to prolong the life and take out as needed. I keep the cookies in the freezer and they are soft straight out.
You are right Rashida, healthy food is not cheap these days. Sure you could store them in the freezer.
RoliOmi says
I don't see a quantity for the first ingredient - the cereal?? Is it a whole box??
I have updated it now. I guess it got deleted somehow. Thanks for notifying.
marko says
Nice recipes, healthy cooking... and microwave? 😯
Sunshinemom says
These look perfect! I wish I could find some of these substitutes here - almond butter etc.!!
You can try it with peanut butter also. I hear that it's available in India.
Madhu / Ruchii says
Bars looks awesome and very healthy too.
Soma says
Looks amazine and seems to be real easy to make. Love the no bake makes.
Priya says
Simply superb...great work Madhu
Aparna says
This is lovely and a great snack idea.
Its not easy to cater to children whent hey become fussy but are "hungry". I know.
Vidhya says
Kindly check out my blog for an award
Bravo_Cook says
Hello If it passes to find to me I have a gift for you! Soon Lorenz
Sukanya Ramkumar says
This is so cool. Looks nice. Great recipe. Will try it soon.YUM! 😛
DivyA Vikram says
Seeing the pic I was very much reminded of the pori urundai..With nuts and dry fruits..
raaji says
Hey even i tried it once but without the almond butter.....they too tasted good.....the pic is so awesome...
Lakshmi Venkatesh says
Wow! It looks so beautiful.
Bharti says
Love this recipe Madhu. I remember making something like this with peanut butter and cornflakes a while ago, but this sounds much better.
Happy Cook says
Wow they just look beautiful and delicious.
Cilantro says
Looks too good... and it takes only 15 minutes to make is really a blessing. Kids stop eating veggies and rice especially Indian food once they start going to school. I had my experiences.
sangeeth says
oh! this looks so easy and perfect for kids....yes as u said it is a fancy pori urundai..:)
Pallavi says
Hey BTW, this would be a perfect no cooking recipe for my Sunday Snacks - Fix It event. Do send it over if you'd like to participate.. 🙂
http://pallavi-foodblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/event-sunday-snacks-fix-it.html
Pallavi, thanks for the heads up, will definitely send it.
Pallavi says
Good one.. ! Will surely try this. Awesome pics.
Smitha says
Healthy entry. It defenitely is Americanized version of our Pori Urundai.
Yes, it is!
SS says
Have to give you a a lot of credit for your patience and enthusiasm, I would probably search in the oraganic isle in the grocery store and buy such a treat 🙂
The truth is I don't have patience (or like) cooking the regular chaaru, pulusu, koora.
Anjali J. says
This is a good and healthy one. will try that soon.
Sweatha.j says
Healthy and yes I agree with you I too feel they are pori urundai.I tried with oats though.Its lovely and defly healthy.Nice entry
Vidhya says
Delicious healthy recipe Madhuram!