Gluten Free Homemade Peanut Butter Cocoa Puff Cereal (egg free, corn free, dairy free option)

Now that my party baking is over I've got the fun baking bug again.  That comes back after about one day of stepping out of the kitchen :P  Yesterday I was back to experimenting.

A little while back I made homemade cocoa puffs.  They were a big hit!  Then my daughter and I went gluten free.  And I haven't made the cocoa puffs since then.

So I decided to make a gluten free version...but add an extra element and make them into peanut butter puff cereal (any fans here of the "real" version of this?).

My inability to keep the kids away from the cereal means it turned out well.  I could hardly even get a picture before they were digging in.  And my son found whatever he could to reach the cereal on the counter and stuff his mouth full :)

 A mix of chocolate and peanut butter with a little sweetness and crunch.  Both kids ate it plain after I made the cereal and then each had a bowl with milk for a bedtime snack.  They really enjoyed drinking the chocolate peanut butter milk at the end :)  We don't buy cereal.  My son will be 2 in a couple weeks and has no idea what cereal is.  But they sure enjoyed this.

This cereal is an easy breakfast on a busy morning.  You get some protein from the peanut butter and milk (or milk substitute) and some carbohydrate to keep you going.  It's also a delicious treat any time of day.  Or put some in a little container for young kids to munch on when you are out and about.  A perfect finger food snack (with no preservatives or unhealthy oils!).

These puffs are also very allergen friendly.  They are gluten free, egg free, corn free and soy free.  The chocolate puffs are nut free and can easily be made dairy free.  The peanut butter buffs are dairy free as well.

Try making a batch for your kids...or for yourself :)  You'll be glad you did.  It takes a little time to make two batches of dough/puffs.  But it's worth the effort.  And if you aren't fond of the combination you can just make one or the other.  Plain chocolate like cocoa puffs.  Or plain peanut butter puffs.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cocoa Puffs
makes 10 cups

Chocolate Puffs

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1/2 cup organic cane sugar, sucanat or coconut sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. chocolate extract (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter (can be replaced with coconut oil or palm shortening)
1/4 cup coconut oil

Heat oven to 350.

Melt butter and coconut oil in sauce pan. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the liquids: honey, chocolate extract, vanilla, butter/oil. Stir well. Taste dough and adjust honey and chocolate extract to your liking. Mix until a nice ball of dough is formed. The dough should not be crumbly. If it is gradually add more honey.

Split the dough into 2 equal parts. Cut 3 pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet. Lay one piece on table. Put 1/2 of dough on the paper. Lay a 2nd piece of parchment on top of dough. Squish the dough down a little with your hand. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the parchment paper. Roll until the dough is about 1/4" thick. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Cut into very small squares (with pizza cutter). Place on a baking sheet (on the parchment paper...just move the whole thing onto the baking sheet). Repeat for other half of dough. (If you don't care about appearance you can skip the cutting step and simply break the cookie into little chunks after it bakes.)

Bake for 12-13 minutes. Turn off oven, but leave cereal in to get crisp. Remove after about 5-7 minutes (if some of the puffs are burning remove the pan). Let cool completely. Separate squares.

Peanut Butter Puffs

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar, sucanat or coconut sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
5 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350.

Melt peanut butter and coconut oil in sauce pan. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the liquids: honey, vanilla, peanut butter/oil. Stir well.  Mix until a nice ball of dough is formed.The dough should not be crumbly.  If it is gradually add more honey.

Split the dough into 2 equal parts. Cut 3 pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet. Lay one piece on table. Put 1/2 of dough on the paper. Lay a 2nd piece of parchment on top of dough. Squish the dough down a little with your hand. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the parchment paper. Roll until the dough is about 1/4" thick. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Cut into very small squares (with pizza cutter). Place on a baking sheet (on the parchment paper...just move the whole thing onto the baking sheet). Repeat for other half of dough. (If you don't care about appearance you can skip the cutting step and simply break the cookie into little chunks after it bakes.)

Bake for 12-13 minutes. Turn off oven, but leave cereal in to get crisp. Remove after about 5-7 minutes (if some of the puffs are burning remove the pan). Let cool completely. Separate squares.


Combine the chocolate and peanut butter puffs in one container.  Serve plain, with milk (or milk substitute) or mixed in yogurt.  Store in an airtight container.  You can freeze the cereal to make it last longer.