I tried switching P from corn to rice puffs recently (I may have mentioned it in a previous post but I can’t remember) just for a touch of variety. The corn puffs aren’t exactly health food, but neither are the rice ones. They are just easy for end of the meal (clean up) time and on-the-go snacking. In any event, he didn’t take to the rice puffs at all so I’ve been trying to think of something to do with them. I asked twitter for non rice crispy treat ideas but got crickets in return, so I spent all last week racking my brain and came up with granola.
For the record, I used Arrowhead Mills rice puffs. The only ingredient is rice. I’m sure you could use puffed anything (corn, millet, kamut, whatever) in this recipe, just note they aren’t the sweetened cereal version of puffs.
Coconut Cherry Puffed Rice Granola [dairy free, gluten free, vegan, nut free, soy free]
Ingredients:
- 1 cup steel cut oats (certified GF if necessary)
- 1 cup whole rolled oats (certified GF if necessary)
- 2 cups puffed rice
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water
- 1 dropper full of cherry flavored NuNaturals liquid stevia
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup add-ins (I used dried cranberries, dried cherries, and flaked coconut but any nuts/seeds/dried fruit will work)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Combine melted coconut oil, chia seeds, water, stevia and vanilla. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until well mixed.
Pour onto two large baking sheets (that have been greased or lined with parchment paper).
Bake for 30 minutes.
Notes: In place of liquid stevia you could use 3 tbsp maple syrup. I liked the cherry flavor in the sweetener a LOT (more than I thought I would to be honest) so I highly recommend trying to track down NuNaturals’ cherry stevia online.
Some people prefer to add the dried fruit to their granola near the end of the baking time so it doesn’t get too hard from being cooked. I don’t think it’s an issue with a 30 minute baking time, but if you want to put in the extra effort, you can wait until the last 10 minutes to add the dried fruit.
The granola is super light and fluffy, and yet it has a good crunch thanks to the steel cut oats. I like it plain as an afternoon snack. It pairs well with yogurt too though.
Enjoy!
You are so smart. I totally forgot about puffed cereal. We started organic O as well as a gf version (no allergies) when my son was working on his pincer, and never went back to the basic puffs. I’d much rather give him one ingredient cereal.
He’d probably like this granola too with the maple syrup as sweetener and minus the chewy fruit!
This actually sounds delicious. You’re brilliant.
I have a box of brown-rice puff cereal (that I bought on a weird whim) that has been sitting in my pantry forever and now I finally know what I can do with it. Thank you!
MmM… Looks tasty! Send that sunshine my way! 🙂
Yum!! Your granola recipes are my favorites- with the quinoa granola a clear winner and huge huge hit with my friends and family (i never even mention the word vegan, and they’re not).
Now i need some puffs!
What about tossing the puffs with a spray of coconut oil and some savory spices, bake, and then use as “croutons”? Or maybe crush them to use like breadcrumbs for veggies or fish or whatever….
Looks amazing!! Such a simple way to make some gf granola!
to second Ttrockwood, I’ve made chicken fingers with brown rice krispies as the crust — I’m sure you could do it with this cereal, too. I used this recipe from Domesticate Me, subbing coconut milk – http://www.domesticate-me.com/crispy-baked-chicken-tenders-with-sriracha-honey-mustard/ – and just an FYI, the sriracha honey mustard is bomb.
i LOVE this idea – thanks for the link. and yeah, that sauce looks legit.