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Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars {with Drizzled Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Flakes}

Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & Dine

It was recently teacher appreciation week at my son’s school and I signed up to bring a sweet treat for “dessert bar” day.  Deciding on what dessert to bring to events is always tough for me.  Not because I can’t think of anything to bring, but my mind is always too full of ideas for what to bring.  This time I wanted something sweet, salty, bite-size, and relatively healthy.  I came up with these puffed amaranth crispie bars and felt so happy about being able to share with all of the hardworking teachers at school.  These no-bake bars are chewy and crispy, bound together with a blend of almond butter and honey, and finished with a drizzle of dark chocolate and a sprinkle of salt.  Amaranth, rich in nutrients and containing all of the essential amino acids, has recently made its way into our kitchen and I have been loving this supergrain.  The amaranth along with sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds deliver a bit of crunch while the brown rice crisps make these bars crispy and light.  Enjoy these for dessert, snack, or even as a quick breakfast.

Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & Dine    Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & Dine Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & DinePuffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & DinePuffed Amaranth Crispie Bars | Gather & Dine

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Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars
Serves: 15 2x1½-inch bars
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup puffed amaranth (see note)
  • 1¼ cup brown rice crisps
  • ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup hemp seeds
  • ¼ cup sesame seeds
  • ⅓ cup creamy almond butter
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1½ ounces dark chocolate
  • flaky sea salt for finishing, such as Maldon
Instructions
  1. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add the puffed amaranth, brown rice crisps, coconut, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
  3. In a small saucepan, stir the the almond butter, honey, coconut sugar, and salt together over medium-low heat until sugar and salt are dissolved, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla.
  4. Working quickly, pour the almond butter mixture over the amaranth mixture and mix together until thoroughly combined. Use the back of a rubber spatula or lightly oiled hands to press the mixture firmly into prepared pan. Chill until firm, at least an hour.
  5. Set a small glass mixing bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and place the chocolate in the mixing bowl. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Use the parchment paper to lift bars out of the pan and onto a work surface. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the chocolate. Wait a few minutes for chocolate to begin to set and then lightly sprinkle sea salt flakes over the chocolate. Return to the refrigerator and wait for chocolate to completely set, about 20 minutes, before cutting into bars. These are best stored in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.
Notes
To make puffed amaranth, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes. (Do not use a small pot or saucepan. Even though the amaranth seeds are tiny, they need quite of bit of space in order pop properly.) Add amaranth 1 tablespoon at a time. Cover immediately and give the pan a quick shake to distribute the seeds evenly. The amaranth should begin popping right away if the pan is hot enough. Give the pan a quick shake every 3-4 seconds. After the popping begins to slow (usually around 12-15 seconds), remove pan from heat and allow amaranth to continue popping off heat for another few seconds. It's better to leave some seeds unpopped than to burn the whole batch. The unpopped seeds can be used along with the popped seeds. Transfer the popped amaranth into another bowl to cool and repeat with remaining amaranth. 3 tablespoons of amaranth will yield slightly more than ¾ cup of puffed amaranth. Sprinkle the extra on granola, cereal, etc.

Inspired by At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen

 

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9 Responses to Puffed Amaranth Crispie Bars {with Drizzled Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Flakes}

  4. Amazing photos as always! I have a bunch of amaranth but now that winter porridge season is over I need to try your puffing technique and even more,These sound amazing and I bet they have just the best texture 🙂