On my own family’s weekly meal plan, you will always find dessert! I love to offer my kids a clean version of something they love. To be honest, before attending nutrition school, I barely knew how to cook anything. Once I graduated, I still felt unsure about myself in the kitchen, but then I attended the Academy of Culinary Nutrition and it really bridged the gap of what to do with all this nutritional science and how to put it to practical use in the kitchen.

One of the best tricks that I learned is how to re-create a favourite recipe. Having zero experiencing cooking before I got married forced me to follow recipes to the exact ingredient and measurement, never feeling confident to experiment. Now with the knowledge of how to mix things up, I just swap out the foods I prefer not to eat for the foods that will benefit my family, sometimes based on their health needs, et voila, you have convenient clean eating readily available!

For example, this Sunflower Butter Rice Crispy recipe was created so that my little guy, who has eczema from time-to-time can eat this too! He tends to not do well with nut butter but does great with seed butter. If you really want to jazz up this dessert make it with Cocoa Rice Puffs. I made my version with Nature’s Path Crispy Rice.

Nutrient Snapshot of Sunflower Seed

• Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of vitamin E which is an antioxidant that helps maintain healthy hair and skin, protects cells from damage, and has anticancer properties.
• The seeds are also an excellent source of B vitamins, especially folate that helps support a healthy pregnancy and the immune system.
• They also contain a high amount of protein and heart-healthy fat and a good supply of calcium, phosphorus, and iron. They are rich in cholesterol-lowering phytosterols.

Eat a handful as a snack or add them to your salads, stir-fries or trail-mixes. I personally LOVE sunflower seed butter and love to bake with it, offering my kids a nut-free version of whatever I bake that they can take to school too!

Sunflower Butter Rice Crispy Squares
Makes approx 15-18 squares
Time: approx 25-30 mins

Ingredients

2 tbsp Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Coconut Sugar
1 cup Sunflower Seed Butter
5 cups Rice Cereal

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 9 baking pan with melted coconut oil, or line with parchment paper.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk the maple syrup, coconut sugar, and sunflower seed butter until thoroughly combined with no lumps remaining. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

3. In a large bowl, combined rice cereal and sunflower seed mixture and gently mix by hand or with a spatula, making sure all the cereal is evenly coated.

4. Transfer mixture to your baking pan and press down firmly with wax paper until evenly spread.

5. Freeze for 20 minutes, or refrigerate for about 2 hours. Once they are firm, cut into bars or squares and enjoy!

Bonus Tip:

To jazz up the flavour, add in either 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, chopped dried cranberries/cherries, or old-fashioned rolled oats.