Fruit, Honey And Coconut Energy Bars - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter (or experiment with almond butter, too)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 2/3 cup dried cranberries or 2/3 cup raisins (or a combination)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut
3 cups puffed brown rice cereal
butter, to grease pan
Other optional ingredients
chocolate or carob chips (optional)
sliced almonds (other nuts are a little too oily for this) (optional)

Preparation

Grease an 8x8 pan with a little butter.
In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract until well-combined.
Add the sunflower seeds, dried fruit, sesame seeds and coconut and combine thoroughly with the peanut butter mixture.
Gradually add the puffed brown rice cereal to this.
This is where a child comes in handy-- this step is gooey and messy and best mixed with your hands- and kids love stuff like that.
Firmly press the mixture into the prepared 8x8 pan; you'll need to wet your hands slightly, otherwise the mixture just sticks to them.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours, then cut and serve.
They're very rich!