If you grew up in western Canada you may have grown up snacking on Puffed Wheat Squares. I may have grown up in Ontario but my family is from Saskatchewan. I always loved it when my grandmother would make them when I would head out west to visit. Since she passed this past year I've been super nostalgic and asked my cousin for a recipe. I've made it a lot this summer and my mother even approves. So without further ado, I present my Puffed Wheat Square recipe.
Ingredients:
- 10 cups puffed wheat (use plain puffed wheat, not sugar-coated)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup of corn syrup
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
- 6 heaping tbs of cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine sugars, corn syrup, butter/margarine and cocoa powder.
Under medium heat bring to a boil. Still constantly on medium-low heat for 2 minutes (very important).
Turn off heat and add vanilla extract. Pour over puffed wheat and thoroughly coat. Using a greased spatula press mixture into a greased brownie pan. Let cool and cut.
Some tips and variations:
- Some people find this recipe too sweet. To this, I say use just shy of a cup of sugar and just shy of a cup of corn syrup.
- If you cook the mixture too long you'll get a hard square. I do 2 - 3 minutes. You want everything to dissolve and become syrup-like.
- You can add peanut butter powder to make chocolate peanut butter bars. Or just use peanut butter powder (I like to use the sugar-free version). Or split the recipe and make a half peanut butter batch and the make the chocolate and layer it on top for a PB and chocolate layered bar.
If you want to learn about the history of this sweet treat this CBC article is a great read.
Do You Have A Favourite Treat To Make?
