Sacrifice for the Gods of Freedom and Democracy: Cereal Bars

On Tuesday, one of my bestest buds from high school invited me to a Fourth of July party in D.C. and she requested that I bring “some food or drink to placate the gods of freedom and democracy.”  However, I couldn’t use the stove since the gas burners have electric starters.  As with this episode last year, I took the Metro to my brother’s apartment in order to sleep and make cereal bars.

Brown Rice Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Modified from Alicia Silverstone, “Crispy Brown Rice Squares,” in The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (Rodale Books, 2009).

1 1/2 cups brown rice syrup

Pinch sea salt

3/4 cup natural peanut butter (I used Whole Foods fresh-ground peanut butter)

7 cups whole grain brown crisped rice cereal (3 1/2 cups Nature’s Path Gorilla Munch and 3 1/2 cups Koala Crisp)

1/2 cup raisins

Grease a 9*13-inch baking pan or an 8*4-inch loaf pan AND a 9-inch pie plate.

In a large bowl, stir together the cereal and raisins.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the brown rice syrup, salt, and peanut butter.  Bring to a low simmer and cook until the peanut butter is melted, about 5 minutes.  Pour over the cereal and stir until combined.  Transfer to the pan(s).  Press down the tops for an even elevation.  Cover with foil or plastic wrap and cool on a rack or in the refrigerator for at least an hour before cutting.

As someone at the party said, these are “addictive” and were totally worth all the Metro fares involved.

These cereal bars pictured are actually not the ones described below.  Since the power was out while I made these, I limited my use of other technology (like my phone and its camera).  Thus, I do not have a picture of the finished product.  The bars depicted are utter crack and crap because the corn syrup one, made them gloppy rather than cohesive and two, made them extremely addictive in a bad way.