Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rice Cake Crumbles (Or Popcorn)

Dairy-Free Foodie's Note:

I got an insane deal on my favorite rice cakes (plain, unsalted), and bought two cases. After the first case was finished, I noticed that I had quite a bit of leftover rice cake crumbs. They are very similar to popcorn in texture, so with Peanut Butter Popcorn as my guide, I made this corn-free version of "popcorn." Of course, you can use popcorn too! I originally posted the recipe on http://www.onefrugalfoodie.com.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 8.0 cups

• ½ cup light corn syrup or ½ cup agave nectar
• 1⁄3; cup brown sugar, firmly packed or 1⁄3; cup sucanat
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter or ½ cup chunky peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄8;-¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted popcorn or salted peanut butter)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 cups plainrice cakes, just the crumbs or 8 cups popped popcorn

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 250ºF.
2. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the syrup and sugar, stirring and cooking until the sugar is pretty well dissolved. This should just take a few minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, salt (if using), and cinnamon. If the peanut butter isn’t melting, place the pan back on the heat just long enough to coerce that peanut butter inches
4. Stir in the popcorn or rice cake crumbles until well coated with the pb mixture.
5. Spread the popcorn or crumbles out on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish, and pop them in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring once, about mid-way through.