Kudos to us! Well...sorta.

Today, Kaia mentioned that she hadn't had a Kudos bar in a long time.  It's true.  I think they are kinda junky, and besides, we like to make our own treats.  So, I thought maybe I could make something similar. ish.  hey really aren;t very similar at all, but they are yummy.  See, I didn't bother to actually look at the ingredients in a Kudos bar, and I haven't eaten many, so I just thought...hmmm...I think they have rice crispies, and chocolate...So, mine have rice crispies and chocolate.  I started with my Peanut Butter Crispie Treat recipe, and thought I would just add chocolate.  I decided to skip the agar agar, since I figured the melted chocolate would bind them well enough (it did), and then I discovered I was out of agave, so I used honey.  It all worked out just fine, and these are ready and waiting to be an afterschool snack for the girls tomorrow.

Here's what is actually in a Kudo's bar:  Milk Chocolate (, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Milk Skim, Lactose, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin,Flavor(s) Artificial ), Granola (, Rice Crisp, Oat(s), Wheat Flakes, Malt, Salt ), Corn Syrup,Chocolate Chips Semisweet (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla) ,Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Calcium Carbonate, Glycerine, Sugar Brown (Salt) ,Soy Lecithin, TBHQ, Peanut(s), Almond(s)

Here's how they stack up nutritionally:

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Servings Per Container: 4

• Amount Per Serving
• Calories 130Calories from Fat 45
• Total Calories 520Total Calories from Fat 180

•  % Daily Value* (DV)Recommended DV
• Total Fat 5 g8%65 g
  • Saturated Fat 2.5 g13%20 g
  • Trans Fat 0 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg0%300 mg
• Sodium 85 mg4%2,400 mg
• Potassium mg0%3,500 mg
• Total Carbohydrate 20 g7%300 g
  • Dietary Fiber 1 g4%25 g
  • Sugars 13 g 
• Protein 1 g 

• Calcium20%
• Iron2%
• Magnesium2%

And here's what I did:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispie Bars

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

2 TBS ground flaxseeds

3 cups crispy brown rice cereal

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Grease a 9x13" pan (I prefer to use glass for this type of recipe).  Place cereal in a large mixing bowl.  In a small sauce pot, over low heat, heat peanut butter and honey, stirring constantly, until hot, evenly mixed and thick.  Really stir this constantly. Do not walk away or it will burn.  When it starts to bubble, stir vigorously and cook 1-2 minutes until it is very thick.  Stir in flaxseeds.  Immediately pour the hot mixture over the cereal and stir well to coat all of the crispies.  Gently but thoroughly stir in chocolate chips, until they are melted and evenly mixed in.  Press mixture firmly into your greased pan.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until set.  Cut into thin bars (I got 21).  

Some time ago, I found this website, where you can enter a recipe and it have it calculate nutrition information.  If I did this right, I think these look okay, as compared to commercially prepared snack bars.  (I deleted most of the "0%"s, because I felt they were just taking up space on the page.  I think I would like to try adding some oats and almond meal along with the cereal, and I might try subbing agave for the honey, but these sure are tasty just as they are.   

21 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		96.9
Total Fat		3.9 g
	Saturated Fat	5.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		32.2 mg
Potassium		4.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		14.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.8 g
	Sugars	8.9 g
Protein		2.0 g

Vitamin B-6	0.1 %
Vitamin C	0.1 %
Calcium	0.1 %
Copper	0.1 %
Iron	1.3 %
Manganese	0.3 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.1 %
Riboflavin	0.2 %
Selenium	0.1 %
Zinc	0.1 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

You'll notice that mine have more saturated fat and less calcium than the original, but they also have fewer calories, less sugar, carbs and sodium, and more protein and potassium.  I am pretty happy with them, and feel good about giving them to my kids, maybe with a glass of almond milk.