Gluten Free Nut Free Cereal Squares Recipe
Updated Apr 02, 2020, Published May 08, 2012
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This Gluten Free Nut Free Cereal Squares recipe is basically the love child of a rice crispy treat and a granola bar. These bars are gluten free, refined sugar free and a whole lot healthier. They are also nut and dairy free. And they happen to be crazy good!
With the temperatures already starting to soar here in Florida I also love the fact that these bars require no baking! I would much rather put my fridge to use than my oven when the thermometer is already flirting around the 90 degree mark.
I am going on a road trip with the family next month and as we all know, snacking on a road trip is an essential element to the whole experience. While I do like to have a couple naughty little treats on hand, it is also nice to have something to munch on that feels naughty but isn’t. I think these bars will be a perfect addition to our on-the-road stock of munchies.
These are fun to make with the kiddos – you do the chopping and heating and they can mix and press. You may have a tiny bit of trouble keeping them occupied while the mixture chills in the fridge for an hour but then again, patience is a much needed virtue (or so I am told).
This recipe is loosely based on one I saw in Sunset magazine, they used puffed rice cereal, almond butter, dried cherries, nuts, and chopped dark chocolate. I decided to give my recipe a nut free make over by using Sunbutter and seeds and instead of puffed rice I used Rice Twice, a gluten free cereal that contains a combination of puffed and crispy rice. I added things, took out things and played around with quantities of ingredients to get big fat squares.
The beauty of these bars is that you can customize them anyway you see fit. I like the combination of apricots, tart cherries, dark chocolate and salty, roasted pumpkin seeds but you can use any dried fruit or seed you love. Not a fan of dark chocolate? Use dairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips instead. And if you want to make this recipe vegan just swap out the honey with brown rice syrup or agave.
I looked at someone’s recipe, changed it up the way I wanted and made it my own. How would you take this recipe and make it YOUR own?
Gluten Free Nut Free Cereal Squares Recipe
Ingredients
- Gluten free non-stick cooking spray
- 1/3 cup Sunbutter – any variety
- ½ cup honey, (use agave or brown rice syrup for vegan)
- 2 tablespoons Earth Balance, (or other dairy free butter)
- 3 cups Rice Twice Cereal, (or other gluten free puffed or crispy rice cereal)
- 1 cup dried tart cherries
- 1 cup dried apricots, , chopped
- 1 ¼ cups roasted and salted pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 3.5 ounces (about ½ cup when chopped) dark chocolate, chopped or use chocolate chips
Instructions
- Spray an 8 inch by 8 inch baking dish with gluten free non-stick cooking spray. Line the dish with two pieces of plastic wrap making sure the wrap hangs over the edges by a couple inches.
- In a small sauce pan combine the Sunbutter, honey and Earth balance and heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and fully combined.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the cereal, cherries, apricots, seeds, and chocolate. Add the Sunbutter mixture and stir until well coated. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with another piece of plastic wrap and press the mixture down really firmly. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and using the overhanging pieces, remove the mixture from the dish and place on a cutting board. With a sharp knife cut the mixture into quarters and then cut each quarter into quarters.
- The cereal squares can be made up to a week ahead, store in the refrigerator between sheets of waxed paper.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look great! I’m going to make them this weekend. I was thinking about using cocoa nibs instead of the chocolate so that I can avoid any sugar in the chocolate. Any thoughts on that? I have a bag, but have never used them. I tasted one and found it a little…..odd, but maybe mixed into something like this they would be good.
Hi Melissa. I am like you and find them a little odd tasting but my thoughts are with so much else going on in these they should be fine. You can always just leave the chocolate out all together. Enjoy and if you do make them with the cocoa nibs, let me know how they turn out.
I made these today and while I switched up a few ingredients (the cocoa nibs were fine, by the way) I didn’t have Sunbutter so I used raw almond butter, honey and EarthBalance for the wet ingredients. But even after several hours in the fridge, mine never hardened up so I could cut it into squares. Any ideas?
Hmm, the only thing I can think of is that the liquid content of the almond butter is higher than that of the Sunbutter. The other thing is that you really have to press the mixture into the pan VERY firmly or it will just fall apart. Maybe try repressing?
These look great, but two worries/questions: my son is very allergic to sesame, and I’m scared to try other seeds, from Sunbutter to pumpkin seeds. Not sure how to get over this. Don’t want to put him through blood work and skin tests again. Hmm. Also, how do you find dried fruit (cherries, etc.) that is not cross-contaminated with nuts? I haven’t been able to find much of anything. That goes for dates, cherries, etc. Thanks for any thoughts on these two things…
Hi Mary. I find that it is always helpful to ask questions. Ask your grocer if products are gluten free or not. If he/she doesn’t know then the internet is your friend. Search for specific answers. I hope this helps and good luck! I do know that Sunbutter is gluten free and free of contamination from other nuts.