sunflower seed rice crispy treats

Thank you for all the sweet comments on my last post. It is, as ever, reassuring to know that other people feel the same way and to know that life does calm down eventually. 

One thing that I am acutely aware of is that when I am busy/tired/stressed/whatever, healthy eating habits are often the first thing that goes out the window. Lunch doesn't get eaten until the end of the day. Ordering pizza seems like a much better alternative to cooking. I fail miserably to resist the lure of the vending machine.

We spent the weekend building furniture, shifting boxes and generally trying to make it appear like we were living some semblance of adult lives. In between all the manual labour, I decided to be proactive and ensure that I had sufficient stocks of not-too-unhealthy treats to ensure that this week was slightly more wholesome than last week.

I turned that that faithful standby - the rice crispy treat. They're quick and surprisingly satisfying yet feel indulgent enough to keep me happy. I've made them with hazelnut butter and almond butter. This time I turned to sunflower seed butter (which is, I should add, a really vile colour) and, as I was already heading down the sunflower seed route, I decided to toast some of the seeds and throw them in too. We're heading, I suppose, more towards the realm of a granola bar (albeit without the granola) than a typical rice crispy treat. As well as the many health benefits of sunflower seeds, they also provide a slightly different texture and give the whole thing just that bit more body.

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Sunflower seed rice crispy treats

Adapted from my hazelnut butter rice crispy treats

Yield: Makes 8

Ingredients

• 30g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds
• 110g (1/2 cup) sunflower seed butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A pinch of sea salt
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 50g (2 cups) brown rice crispies (gluten free if necessary)
• 50g (1/4 cup) dark chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

1. In a dry frying pan, toast the sunflower seeds over a medium heat for a minute or two until they are golden brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Line a baking tray or tin with non-stick paper.
3. In a small pan, heat the sunflower seed butter, honey, vanilla and salt over a low heat for a couple of minutes until everything is combined and slightly melted.
4. Add the toasted sunflower seeds and rice crispies and mix until everything is covered. Finally, stir through the chocolate chips - they don't need to be completed melted; I like having some chunks here and there.
5. Spoon the mixture into the baking tray and chill in the fridge until firm before cutting into pieces. They are best stored in the fridge but nothing awful will happen if you keep them at room temperature.