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Heart-shaped gluten-free strawberry rice crispie bars make a lovable Valentine’s Day treat!
I used freeze-dried unsweetened strawberries (purchased at Costco) but if you can’t locate this ingredient, substitute with your favorite dried fruit. Dried cherries or cranberries would look equally great in this Valentine’s Day-inspired recipe.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 10-ounce box of gluten-free brown rice crisp cereal (Use the entire box)
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) or your favorite dairy-free butter substitute
- 1 10-ounce package marshmallows
- 2 cups freeze-dried strawberries (if you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries use dried cherries or cranberries
- 1 teaspoon gf strawberry extract (or substitute vanilla or almond extract
- gluten-free red sugar sprinkles (optional)
Preparation:
- Lightly grease a large baking sheet with butter or vegetable shortening.
- Melt butter over low heat in a large pan.
- Add marshmallows to melted butter and stir over low heat until melted. Remove pan from heat. Stir in extract until blended.
- Stir in rice cereal and dried fruit and gently coat cereal with marshmallow mixture.
- Pour rice mixture into prepared pan. With buttered fingers press the mixture flat. Allow to completely cool before cutting into heart shapes with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Sprinkle with red decorative sugar (optional.)
Yield: Depends on the size of your cookie cutter. A 3″ cookie cutter should yield about 1 dozen hearts.
Reminder: Always make sure your work surfaces, utensils, pans and tools are free of gluten. Always read product labels. Manufacturers can change product formulations without notice. When in doubt, do not buy or use a product before contacting the manufacturer for verification that the product is free of gluten.
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Author Information: Teri Gruss, MS
About.com Guide to Gluten-Free Cooking
Teri was diagnosed with gluten intolerance after decades of symptoms that culminated in malabsorption syndrome. Teri has written numerous health and nutrition articles for the popular website naturalnews.com and was a founding member and moderator of nutritioncircle.org, a nutrition forum for healthcare professionals and students. She is a member of the American Dietetic Association and supports the non-profit organization Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) of North America as a member.
Email Teri Gruss, MS here.
