Chewy. Crunchy. Sticky. Shiny.

Vegan MoFo has me in a sort of food daze (in the best way possible). So I'm going to make this post quick--snack time quick, one might say. Here are a couple nibble-worthy items I cooked up from my treasure trove of bookmarked online recipes.

A few days ago, I made my first batch of senbei, or Japanese rice crackers. I adapted this recipe, using roasted shiro goma, shichimi togarashi, and yaki nori. Maple syrup replaced the honey. I also supplemented some of the oil with toasted sesame oil. These crackers were tedious to make, because the process required pressing each cracker individually, as well as baking, glazing, and drying steps. Unfortunately, the finished crackers weren't completely crisp; some were rather chewy in the middle, which is something I don't relish in a cracker. But the flavor was very reminiscent of the store-bough arare I liked to munch as a child (and still do, on occasion). Perhaps a few more tweaks will help to perfect subsequent senbei attempts.

Making these Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats required much less effort than the senbei. I've had the recipe for the former bookmarked for a long time and am glad I finally made a point to try it. I used a combination of nut butters, mixing almond butter with the dregs of a jar of smooth peanut butter and gianduja. A few stray, roughly chopped, vegan marshmallows went in for good measure. The bars were just as easy as (if not actually easier than) assembling traditional crispy rice bars, and equally delicious. The nut butter-rice syrup combination gave the bars a sweet, chocolate-kissed, nutty flavor. It has been a struggle staying away from these crisp and chewy bars.