Puffed Kamut Squares

Slight twist on an old favorite! Traditionally known as puffed wheat squares and a staple sweet from the 60's. This is one that my mom made many times and we all loved. Eight kids can't be wrong and you won't go wrong with this simple recipe! Beware for sure -- I looked on the internet and various recipes abound for this (some I question if they would hold together) and they go under the name of puff wheat cakes (never heard that one before), puffed wheat bars, and the one I know it as - puffed wheat squares. Apparently it's not that well known in the united states but here on the prairies during the 60's I'm sure it was being made in practically every household. Back than neither organic nor kamut were terms that were common. Well we now have organic puffed kamut and naturally it works perfectly in place of the puffed wheat in this recipe. 1960 meets 2009!


Recipe
1/3 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1/3 cup *golden syrup*
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons cocoa
6 cups puffed organic kamut (nature's path)

Put your 6 cups of puffed kamut into a large size bowl (so you have lots of room to stir it around and coat all the puffs evenly).

Put your margarine, syrup, sugar and cocoa in a saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour over the puffed kamut and stir until all puffs are evenly coated. Press into a greased 8x8 square pan using your hands. Then I go over it with the back of a flipper pressing as hard as possible to make sure it's compressed really well. Cool. Loosen edges. Turn out onto a cutting board and cut into whatever size pieces you prefer.
*corn syrup can be used in place of golden syrup*

Veggie Prairie Girl Rambles

I don't know about anyone else but I personally get a huge chuckle out of these cookbooks that say you can get 24 pieces out of anything that fits in a 8x8 pan! I'm lucky to get 12 pieces of a size that somebody would actually want to bother with. That's why I'm not going to say how many pieces this recipe makes -- that's for you to decide! Heck it could be anywhere from 4-24 depending on how many are in your family and what mood you're in!

I should have subbed agave syrup for the golden syrup but too late! Next time I'll give it a try for sure. Especially since I was lucky enough to pick up a bottle of maple flavored agave syrup on my last trip browsing the organic food aisles. As you can well imagine it's delicious. Unlike some of the recipes I've seen out there my mom's recipe has never let me down and you should be happy with it. Just a few pointers -- makes sure you use hard margarine (soft tub margarine won't set as hard and could make it crumbly), make sure you use proper measuring cups for dry and liquid, use an excellent quality cocoa (Camino) and it should all be good!