Puffed Millet Bars, recipe and product review
The recipe of the day is Puffed Millet Bars. A kids-friendly snack, super crunchy, tasty, and perfect to keep the little ones busy.
Grocery shopping can be a daunting task if you do not research the latest natural and healthy ingredients on the market. When I go grocery shopping I am always on the hunt for new products that I haven’t tried. Luckily while browsing in the organic section of my local supermarket, I found a product I had never noticed that was on clearance.
This is the time I enjoy having technology around. I quickly researched the product and did a quick review and decided to purchase a bag of Arrowhead Mills Puffed Millet.
I have tried dried cooked millet before; this was new to me. Out of curiosity, I decided to take 2 bags and give them a try. I also picked up Lundberg Sweet Dreams Brown Rice Syrup, this intrigued me as well, and I have never seen this type of sweetener alternative. In reading the label it stated that it can be used to sweeten coffee, tea baked goods recipes, even poured on pancakes. I figured it had to be good.
At Livestrong.com, Puff Millet is described as a type of grain, usually sold as a breakfast cereal. In addition to being low in fat, millet is also gluten-free, making it a nutritious option for people who are gluten-intolerant or who have celiac disease. When you make puffed millet part of your breakfast, you’ll also get a small dose of certain key vitamins and minerals. Combine the cereal with other nutritious foods to create a healthy and well-balanced morning meal.
Puff Millet has been qualified as a good source of important nutrients such as copper, manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. It is “not a commonly allergenic food and is not known to contain measurable amounts of oxalates or purines.” (http://www.whfoods.com)
Puff Millet can be served as porridge with nuts and fruits for breakfast, in a salad when cooked for lunch or dinner, or mixed with vegetables or any other ways you wish to consume it. As far as baking goods, bread and muffins are away great to enjoy Puff Millet.
Brown Rice Syrup also called Rice Malt Syrup or simply Rice Syrup is a fructose-free sweetener derived from brown rice. Similar to most refined sugars, it contains no essential nutrients.
Looking at these two products I chose the first idea that came to mind, granola bars. So, here we are now, days later after I did a little bit of recipe research for puffed millet bars. I wanted something quick and simple. I noticed a lot of recipes used peanut butter instead I used soy nut butter (non-GMO) since we have a peanut allergy in my house. If you haven’t tried soy nut butter it tastes very similar to peanuts. But you can use any nut butter you like.
I made the Puffed Millet Bars with my kids and their first reaction to tasting the plain puffed millet out of the bag was “it tastes like nothing”. Well, I figured that wasn’t a bad start because they kept on eating it right out of the bag.
The brown rice syrup was great! I have been experimenting with alternatives that are on the healthier side. It hasn’t been easy! Honestly, I thought the syrup was going to taste like rice! LOL! When I tried it, it tasted like honey, but better. It poured much faster than honey would too. I definitely would like to try this syrup with banana pancakes. I guess that is a new recipe to create. I will definitely make the puffed millet and brown rice syrup a staple in my pantry and incorporate it in other recipes. Remember, that sugar is sugar even with alternatives portion control is important.
This recipe was super easy to make. You can use whatever you have on hand; you can also top it with melted dark chocolate for chocolate lovers. The kids really enjoyed the puffed millet bars and said it reminded them of rice Krispies treats. The texture of the puffed millet bars is chewy yet firm. It had just enough sweetness and it was light. I did not feel guilty after eating it. LOL! I left the bars out for a few hours on the counter to see if they would stay firm, and they did. Yeah!!! So this is definitely staying on my list for the lunchbox and snack time.
Sources:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/425220-is-puffed-millet-cereal-healthy/
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53#healthbenefits
https://authoritynutrition.com/brown-rice-syrup-good-or-bad/
Puffed Millet Bars, recipe and product review
Ingredients
- ½ cup Brown rice syrup
- 4 cups Puffed millet
- ½ cup Soybean butter Non-GMO melted
- 1 cup Dried fruit and nuts chopped
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Prepare a 9-inch metal pan or /ceramic/glass dish. Melt nut butter and brown rice syrup in small saucepan over medium heat, be careful not burn. Remove from heat and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, pour puffed millet, melted nut butter and syrup, dried fruit and nuts.
- Mix well to make sure puffed millet is thoroughly coated.
- Pour mixture into the pan covered in parchment paper. Press mixture down evenly in pan with spatula.
- Cool in refrigerator for 1 hour or until firm. When firmed, remove and cut in square and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
Hi, could you please provide the nutritional info?
Estimated nutrition provided. Thank you for your patience. 🙂
Looks great, thanks for sharing 🙂 just a few questions: is “1/2 brown rice syrup” meant to be half of the jar or half a cup? Would you be able to add a cups measurement? I have a very large jar of the syrup and want to be sure. Also, did you measure 1/2 cup of solid soybean butter and then melt it or did you measure 1/2 cup of melted soybean butter?
Thanks
Freya, thanks for pointing that out for us. It is 1/2 cup of brown rice syrup and you measure the soybean butter and then melt it. Thanks again!