Yesterday, Jo sent out a story and recipe about an afternoon spent teaching Alex, an 8 year old who’s gluten-free. Together they developed a “power bar” fit for an afternoon snack or a dessert for the lunchbox. So, being antsy and bored this afternoon, I had to try it. Below is the original recipe:

Alex’s Power Bars
3 cups cereal (1 1/2 cups gluten free rice crispies and 1 1/2 cup Perkys Crunchy Rice Cereal by Enjoy Life)
1 generous cup roasted peanuts (Alex loves peanuts)
2 teaspoons Ceylon or True Cinnamon (yes Alex also LOVE cinnamon) you can use whatever cinnamon you have—this particular cinnamon is a bit “sweeter” has a delicious flavor and aroma and can stand on its own very well.
1/2 cup creamy organic natural peanut butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt (optional if peanuts are salted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 11 x 7 pan. Mix cereal, nuts and cinnamon together in a large bowl. In a saucepan, heat peanut butter and syrup together bring to a boil to thicken just a bit; remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.
Pour over cereal and mix well. Pat into prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.
Alex wanted to add a chocolate layer much like some protein bars they purchase—so we melted 1 1/2 cups chocolate with 2 teaspoons coconut oil over low heat. Pour over the cereal mixture and cool. Refrigerate to harden.

For added protein stir in protein powder or Omegas add flaxmeal or hemp seeds.

I was missing a few ingredients and I’m not concerned about the gluten-free aspect, so I did my own little variation.
This is what I came up with:

3 cups cereal (1 cup rice crispies and 2 cups Kashi [high fiber and high protein!])
1 generous cup roasted almonds chopped
1 teaspoon Saigon Cinnamon (it’s what I had on hand!)
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave nectar
I admit I totally forgot the vanilla from the original version.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix cereal, nuts and cinnamon together in a large bowl. In a saucepan, heat almond butter and honey/agave nectar together bring to a boil to thicken just a bit. Pour over cereal and mix well. Pat into prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.
I also added a chocolate layer and melted 1 cup chocolate with 1 teaspoons coconut oil over low heat. Pour over the cereal mixture and cool. Refrigerate to harden.

Even my husband liked them! Quick, easy and a nice little treat without all the guilt.