Chocolate, Almond & Coconut Cereal Bars

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9″ x 9″ square pan with parchment paper (make sure the ends of the paper extend over edges of pan). Set aside.

In a large bowl add puffed wheat cereal, almonds and coconut; mix until combined.

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the brown rice syrup, maple syrup, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt and sugar; just until sugar is melted.

Pour the liquid mixture on top of the dry ingredients and mix well. Make sure everything is coated. Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press down firmly with the back of a spoon (mixture will be sticky). I found using a piece of parchment paper and pressing on it with my hands works great in pressing the bars.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove pan from oven, press mixture down again with a spoon until the bars are flat. Set aside until completely cooled.

Once cooled, take the bars out of the pan by grabbing the ends of the parchment paper. Flip them over on your cutting board. Remove the parchment paper. With a sharp knife, cut into 8 or 12 slices.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate for 8 second intervals until chocolate is melted. Pour chocolate into a sandwich baggie and cut the corner off. Drizzle chocolate over cooled bars. Let the chocolate harden.

I store mine in a sealed container at room temperature.