Panda Bars - A Gluten Free Rice Krispies Treats Alternative

First off, you much watch this video.

What Brian looks like after I feed him stuff

I have had a deep love for pandas since I believe my 3rd birthday, in which my cake had an adorable panda on it. Every day when I was young, I would insist that my dad tell me the panda story - an obviously true tale of the time that some pandas came knocking at the door asking me for food. Since my mom was downstairs, I escorted them to the kitchen where they filled their large bellies with all our food. They graciously thanked me for my assistance and went on their merry way. Then my mom came upstairs to make dinner and uh oh - where was all the food! She would never believe it was a very hungry family of pandas (and if my dad was an environmentalist he probably would have explained that the moral of this story was to prevent bamboo forests from being cut down for development, leading to a loss of their food source and habitat, resulting in pandas roaming the new housing developments asking small children for food).

don't you wish it was always April?

The panda love has continued all the years of my life. To this day my favorite and most anticipated Christmas gift is the panda calendar I get from my parents, stocked full of these most preciously cuddly looking creatures loungin' around doing my favorite things: sleeping, cuddling, and eating. And when I'm not making or researching food, I am probably on the San Diego Zoo's Panda Cam website. You have to check out the video gallery - adorably addicting.

So what does all this have to do with food you ask? Well, when I found out that I had Celiac Disease, the entire cereal aisle was pretty much a wrong way street for me. Not even because of the wheat content of some cereals, but mostly because of the malted barley that coats almost all breakfast cereals known to man - including rice krispies, and therefor, rice krispie treats.

my favorite cereal, obviously

But just my luck, Enviro Kidz, who has a heart for both endangered species like the panda and for food allergy plagued people like myself, came out with a line of breakfast cereals that I think are even better than most of your traditionals like rice krispies, kix, and coco krispies. These gluten free cereals are made with all natural and organic ingredients, and each come with beautiful pictures of adorable looking endangered species. Panda Puffs by far are their best creation - combining two of my favorite things - peanut butter and pandas! They are kinda like a peanut butter Kix - but BETTER. Plus the box comes with a cut out game and intresting facts and jokes revolving around the most precious creature on earth - no not Brian, I was talking of the panda.

So when I saw the Gluten Free Homemaker's Recipe Challenge of the Month was dessert bars - I said, "Move over brownies and lemon bars, the big boys are comin' through. It's Panda Bar Time!" These treats are like a peanut butter and chocolate gluten free Rice Krispies Treat, but with Panda power. They are chock full of chocolate, peanut butter, panda puffs, and even a black and white icing drizzle in honor of our boldly coated animals.

Panda Puff Gluten Free Dessert Bars

Here's what I came up with:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Panda Bars
Ingredients
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbs of raw homemade peanut butter (but you could use regular pb)
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp of vanilla
2 1/2 cups of Panda Puffs Cereal

In a small saucepan heat brown rice syrup, cocoa powder, coconut oil, peanut butter, and vanilla over med-low to medium heat. Stir until melted and thoroughly incorporated. Turn off heat and stir in Panda Puffs. Press into a 8x8 square pan and let sit in fridge before cutting into squares or fun shapes.

Optional black and white chocolate and yogurt drizzle 
*Leave out for a dairy free or vegan recipe, or substitute dairy free yogurt like soy or coconut
Ingredients

1/2 cup plain goats milk yogurt (or regular or greek yogurt, but goat's milk yogurt is so rich and creamy!)

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp maple syrup divided

1 oz square of dairy free unsweetened bakers chocolate

Mix together yogurt, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1 tbsp maple syrup. Pour into a plastic baggy and cut one of the bottom corners. Squeeze yogurt out and drizzle in lines across the pan. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate bar and stir in 2 tbs maple syrup and drizzle on top like you did with the yogurt mix.
Place in a dehydrator or oven at 175 degrees or less about 2 hours or until yogurt has firmed up. Cut into squares or shapes and enjoy or store in the fridge. Make sure your chocolate is dairy free and gluten free - plain unsweetened bakers chocolate should be, but you never know!

these got gobbled up fast!

If I had a personal panda, I would throw him a party and feed him these treats in his honor, and he would probably be all up on them like in this video.

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