Maple Pop Crunch Recipe: Better Than Caramel Corn

Whoever said that food has no impact on disease (um…my gastroenterologist) has clearly never fed popcorn to a person with digestive problems. Popcorn could put someone with IBD in the hospital and someone with IBS in the bathroom. Now, not only is popcorn chock full of fibre, but those sharp kernel bits that rip apart your gums if you bite down funny could also rip apart your insides if you are at all sensitive. The body actually lacks the enzyme necessary to fully digest that hard kernel bit. The best we can do is just chew really well. At one time, popcorn was my favrouite food. I would go the movies and eat a giant bag of popcorn all by myself. I would eat it until I was nauseous and couldn’t feel my lips from all that salt. I still like a good old fashioned crunchy snack from time to time, but despite being healed from Crohn’s Disease for many years now, I am just not ready to welcome popcorn back into my life. At last, I came up with the most amazing alternative. It is so easy and so crazy delicious. We could call this caramel corn – or we could call it Maple Syrup Rice Cake Bits. Let’s settle on Maple Pop Crunch and call it a day. Either way – it’s sweet, it’s salty and reminds me a little of that sugary Kashi cereal that likes to disguise itself as a healthy breakfast. Can’t go wrong with this four ingredient recipe delight. Print
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Maple Pop Crunch


  • Author: Meghan Telpner
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 3-4 servings 1x

Description

A simple and delicious gluten-free and corn-free treat that will kick that popcorn craving aside.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 pack of rice cakes, broken into popcorn size pieces
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • about 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat over to 325
  2. Over medium heat, simmer together the coconut oil, syrup and sea salt for about 5 minutes
  3. Pour over rice cake bits, mixing well
  4. Bake in the oven at 325 for about 10-15 minutes (mixing halfway through)
  5. Let cool- this gets super crispy crunchy amazing!
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins

28 Comments

  1. This is genius! I’ve been searching high and low for the perfect sweet n’ salty snack. I need to make this one! :D

    xo

  2. Meghan, that is so smart! My kids are going to love you for this recipe and well, I’m not going to pretend it’s all for them though. I’ll have some too :)

  3. I love using leftover rice cake crumbs to make these … only mine have brown sugar and peanut butter because I’m bad that way :) I call them rice cake crumbles and they do taste a lot like popcorn in terms of texture! I love your use of maple syrup. My next batch will use that. I always use the unsalted Lundberg brown rice cakes, but would love to know what kind you use. I’m always looking for options.

  4. I just found you site. In you “Better than Carmel Corn” article you mentioned that you are cured of Crohn’s disease. My son was diagnosed with Crohn’s 12 years ago, he was 18. His doctor’s put him on steroids and other drugs to manage the disease. He stopped taking the drugs 3 years ago but he is still struggling with the disease. What did you do to cure your Crohn’s disease? I would love to hear back from and look forward to your news letters. LOL

    Linda

  5. This is delicious! We just made a batch, and are crunching on it right now. Yum, yum, yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

  6. Omg, this is brilliant! My husband would love it as he’s allergic to corn. I’m presently off sugars and coconut , I’ll have to figure out a stevia concoction for myself. A Shik friend years ago used to use tahini and maple syrup over popcorn, just as delish over rice cakes! You know there are always broken pieces at the bottom of the bag to (usually sprinkle them on soup).

  7. Oh my….this is FABULOUS!! SO easy to throw together…I think I will try making a savory version too…such a creative and fabulous idea!!! Thank you! My kids are diggin on this right now…..

  8. Hi Meghan! This looks so yummy–when you say half a pack, do you mean like a pack of Lundberg’s rice cakes? Or do you have a measurement, like cups, to recommend? Thanks, I really really want to try this!

  9. Hey Meghan,
    I would love to make this for the child care centers that I cater for. However, they don’t allow me to use coconut oil. I would normally substitute ghee but we’ve got some milk allergies. I would also use olive oil but I find the taste to be a bit strong and now there’s the controversy with grape seed oil. What are your thoughts?

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