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"I absolutely adore the act of baking, but there&amp;#x27;s one little problem: What do you do with the tray of fluffy cupcakes once they&amp;#x27;re done cooling to perfection, or the two dozen gooey, fudgey brownies tempting you with their loveliness? So, when I&amp;#x27;m in a baking mood but I&amp;#x27;m feeling a little too weak-willed to have an entire batch of sugary goodness laying around, here&amp;#x27;s what I make: Behold, the crispy brown rice bar. I know, I know, it reminds you of hanging on on the playground and eating a Rice Krispie treat. But don&amp;#x27;t let it fool you&amp;amp;mdash;this grown-up version is marshmallow-free, and a sneaky sweet treat that doesn&amp;#x27;t attack you with calories. Plus, hooray brown rice! To whip up some of these treats, you only need three basic ingredients: brown rice cereal (Erewhon is the brand I usually go for, though anything you like will work!), peanut butter (try a natural, unsweetened kind to cut the sugar cals) and brown rice syrup. The syrup can sometimes be a bit tricky to find, but it&amp;#x27;s become more popular, so if your local grocery store doesn&amp;#x27;t have it, a health food market should deliver results. While you can play with ingredients and proportions to get the exact texture you like (plus add chocolate or carob chips if you want!), here&amp;#x27;s a basic recipe to help you get started: Crispy Brown Rice Bars from Dani Spies: Ingredients: 1/3 cup of all natural crunchy peanut butter 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup 3 cups of brown rice crispy cereal 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup of chocolate chips (these are optional if you want something sweet!) Preparation: 1. Put peanut butter, rice syrupand vanilla into a small sauce pan and heat over a low heat until the mixture becomes warm and syrupy&amp;amp;#133;this will only take a few minutes. 2. While your peanut butter syrup is heating, spray a large bowl with cooking spray before adding the rice cereal. Pour the ooey gooey peanut butter syrup over the cereal and combine until all of the rice crispies are evenly coated (you may have to work it a little). 3. Transfer crispies into an 8x8-baking dish (like a Pyrex) that has been lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray. Pat them down and make them nice and even, pop in the fridge about an hour or so, then cut em&amp;amp;#8217; up and enjoy! If you&amp;#x27;re adding chocolate chips, you have two options: #1: After cereal and syrup is combined and has cooled down a little, stir in chocolate chips, then place into your dish and chill them in the fridge before cutting. #2: After chilling your bars for a half hour, take a 1/4 cup of melted chocolate chips and pour them over the top. You can drizzle or spread the chocolate evenly. Chill &amp;#x27;em before cutting. Even with the chocolate, here&amp;#x27;s your nutrition breakdown: Calories: 161; Total Fat: 6.9g; Saturated Fat: 2.1g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 10mg; Carbohydrate: 24.1g; Dietary Fiber: 1.7; Sugars: 12.2; Protein: 3.6g Pretty good, right? So, is anyone interested in trying these out? Have any other ideas for cool mix-ins or toppings that would be good? I&amp;#x27;m thinking a few dried coconut flakes might be yummy, too! P.S. Here are 7 more suggestions under 200 calories that&amp;#x27;ll help satisfy your health-conscious sweet tooth. More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: Dani Spies"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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