Everything but the Kitchen Sink Rice Cake Bars

Bars & Bites for Brown Bags: Whether you pack your lunch in a bento box, a brown bag or a retro cartoon character lunch box, don’t forget the bars and bites. Small squares or round bites can pack nutrition into a sweet or savory taste. Show us your favorite way to jazz up any type of lunch box.

As luck would have it, I actually have two recipe link ups going on today, so make sure you check out my other linkup for Foodie Friday (link will start working by 8 a.m.)! The theme over there is dessert heaven, so feel free to link up a dessert recipe or two! :]

I entertained a billion different ideas for this month’s theme, but since I put myself on a grocery ban until I’ve made a very substantial dent in all the edible substances I currently have in my apartment, here’s where my packs of glutinous rice flour came into play!

Glutinous rice is relatively low in fat content, and is gluten-free! It’s used in all sorts of dishes in a variety of different cultures. I learned how to make 糯米糍 (Glutinous Rice Balls/Lo Mai Chi) when I was around 9 and will eventually get to making those and putting a recipe for that up, but…I wanted to experiment with the flour, so this is what happened!

Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Rice Cake Bars

If you divide them into 36 pieces, each serving is ~115 calories, 14g CHO’s, 6g fat, 3g protein, 1g fiber, 43mg sodium!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups glutinous rice flour
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups vanilla soy milk (or your choice of milk)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup almonds, sliced
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 tbsp hempseeds
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp almond powder
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dried mango, diced
• 1/4 cup dried longan, diced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 4 squares Ghirardelli hazelnut crisps, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup cinnamon chips
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour + almond meal, baking soda and salt. Pour in the applesauce, milk and vanilla, then stir to mix well.
3. Add all assorted nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc. Mix well.
4. Pour batter into 2 8-in. baking pans. (If you have a baking pan, by all means, go ahead and use that! I didn’t.)
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and firm.
6. Let cool completely before cutting into the bars.

I know the list of ingredients looks a tad pretty darn frightening, but please remember, I’m on a grocery ban until I clean out my pantry and use everything up! It’s completely up to you on what you want to put in it! :] I believe my first thought when I took a bite of these was, “Holy crap! Where have you been all my life?!” Hopefully, you’ll feel the same! :P This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and has no added sugar or sweetener!

These can be enjoyed hot or cold, and you can wrap up any leftover bars in plastic wrap and freeze them (should keep for a couple months)! I packed some up and sent some off in a care package to my friend Trish, since she sent me homemade blueberry muffins and pepper jelly last month!

Don’t be alarmed by how brown it turns while it’s hanging out in the oven! This is what mine looked like before I baked it!

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