chewy no-bake honey tahini chocolate puffed cereal bars

Go on, try these chewy no-bake honey tahini chocolate puffed cereal bars.

It seems that I never leave empty-handed whenever I visit my sister. I snuck in a side trip to Canberra on my recent jaunt in Sydney, and this time around, she gave me a bag of organic multi-puffs - a light and airy gluten-free mix of puffed brown rice, puffed buckwheat and puffed sorghum.

A mix of puffed buckwheat, puffed brown rice and puffed sorghum.

I came to the logical conclusion of using the puffed multigrains to make no-bake cereal bars. I toasted the puffs and tossed them merrily through a thick chocolate honey tahini sauce, and then I packed the concoction into a dish and let it set overnight as I slept. In the morning, I cut the cereal block into squares, and Simon and I gobbled down these treats in all their sticky, chewy glory. It was all gone by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, it still appears as if I'd barely made a dent in that bag of multi-puffs. I'll definitely make more of these puffed cereal squares again, and experiment with different flavours, but what else can I do with my multi-puffs? Feel free to give me your suggestions!

I wouldn't dare say that these tahini chocolate honey cereal bars are super healthy, but they're quite wholesome.

chewy no-bake honey tahini chocolate puffed cereal bars

3 cups puffed cereal (e.g. buckwheat, sorghum, brown rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth)
1/4 cup chopped or crumbed walnuts (or other nuts)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa/cacao powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Lightly toast the puffed grains and the walnuts in a large saucepan, and then pour them into a 20cm/8-inch square baking dish or baking pan.
In the same saucepan, stir together the tahini, honey, cocoa powder and salt over low heat. When the cocoa powder is well-incorporated and the mixture is warm, return the puffed grains and walnuts into the pan. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients, and then scrape the mixture into the baking dish. (For ease of removal, grease the baking dish beforehand, or line it with parchment paper or foil.)
Press the mixture into the dish. Allow it to cool completely before covering the dish, and leave the mixture alone for several hours before cutting it into squares or rectangles.

Note:
- If the room temperature is warm, keep these cereal bars in the fridge.

Adjustments to try:
- Add 1 - 2 more tablespoons of cocoa powder for a richer chocolatey taste, or omit all cocoa powder entirely to highlight the taste of the tahini.
- Use brown rice syrup instead of honey to make it vegan and not as sweet (this should also help bring out the taste of the chocolate, as rice syrup is much milder than honey.)
- Create a nuttier bar by reducing the amount of puffed cereal and increasing the amount of nuts. Just make sure that the combined volume of the puffed cereal and nuts adds up to 3 and 1/4 cups in the end.
- You can also use puffed wheat or puffed spelt, as long as you're not following a gluten-free diet.

Chewy chocolate honey tahini cereal bars for everyone!