Crispy Rice Bars "Luna Bars"

Happy Valentine's Day! My dear husband requested something "different" this year (and by different I think he just meant not cookies) for Valentine's Day. I've been wanting to try a homemade LUNA bar for awhile and so that's where I took it.

The recipe below is directly from Chocolate-covered Katie. My notes/changes are below.

Homemade Luna Bars

• 3 cups rice crispies (I used brown rice crispies. For a less-crispy bar, you can sub 2 cups of the crispies for 1/2 cup oat flour.)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used salted pb, too)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons nut butter of choice (for lower-cal option, see below link)
• 1/2 cup sticky sweetener, such as agave or brown rice syrup (I used agave)
• 2-3 tablespoons protein powder (you can omit)
• melted chocolate chips or 

Mix your pb, sweetener, extract, and salt. Melt (either in the microwave or stove), then pour over the cereal and powder, and stir very well, making sure to coat all the crispies. Smush and smash the crispies. (Get mad; it’s fun!) Line a pan with wax paper and spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the mixture, then press down as firmly as you can. Really press it down! Spread the chocolate on top, and freeze for at least a half hour before slicing.

My Ingredients and Changes:
1. I also used brown puffed rice, which I got from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, but I'm sure regular crisped rice would be equally delicious. I probably ended up using closer to 4 cups of it.
2. I've been running low on vanilla extract and so I did one teaspoon vanilla and added a teaspoon of imitation maple flavor, which I have a lot of and never use. I think this was a brilliant move on my part because it added a nice flavor dimension to the final product.
3. I used Skippy's natural "no-stir" peanut butter for this and went with blue agave syrup.
4. I put in two tablespoons of chocolate flavored protein powder.
5. For the chocolate layer, I melted chocolate and butter (2.5ish oz to 1.5ish TBSPs).

My Notes:
1. This would be a no-brainer GF, DF dessert, if I omitted the whey protein powder or subbed in cocoa powder, and didn't use butter in the chocolate layer.
2. I probably could've added more protein powder (maybe 4-5 TBSP) without anyone noticing-- I think in the future, I'd mix the powder into the melted liquids before adding it to the rice.
3. I think I would do a thicker chocolate layer next time. I used an 8x8 pan and the 2.5ish ounces of chocolate definitely covered the surface area, but I think I'd have liked more.
4. I really liked this, but next time I might try added some nuts or some other interesting mix in to the rice.