Almond Butter Rice Cakes 4 Ways

These almond butter rice cakes are perfect for a healthy and fun breakfast. With less than 200 calories, each rice cake is packed with proteins, healthy fats, and vitamins.

Almond Butter Rice Cakes 4 Ways

Info

Nutrition per serving
NutrientAmountRDA
Net Carbs14.2 g5.2%
of which Sugars5.6 g6.3%
Fibers2.9 g10.2%
Fats10 g15.4%
of which Saturates1.1 g5.6%
of which Omega 30.1 g11.8%
Proteins4.7 g10.2%
Calcium69 mg6.9%
Vitamin A5 mcg0.7%
Vitamin C10 mg12.9%
Iron1.1 mg7.1%
Potassium242 mg6.9%
Sodium23 mg1%
Cholesterol0 mg0%
Kcal166 8.3%
Macro split
  • net carbs 45%
  • sugars 18%
  • fats 32%
  • saturates 4%
  • proteins 15%
  • fibers 9%
*RDA based on a 2000 kcal diet;
**Nutritional data sources: USDA, food labels.
KCAL
166 per serving
TIME
10m
HEALTH

Today we'll explore four ideas to prepare a healthy breakfast using rice cakes and almond nut spread. Ready in less than 10 minutes, our rice cakes are an easy way to add colour, flavour and excitement to the table. Put a platter of these crispy goodies on display, and see your loved ones pick them faster than you can make them!

All the ingredients we used are wholesome and plant-based, making this recipe suitable for vegans. Celiacs and people on a gluten-free diet can also enjoy these rice crisps without worries.

To make our recipe even healthier, we used rice cakes made with whole-grain puffed rice instead of white rice, for a better nutritional profile.

This recipe is quick and straightforward. First, we prepare our toppings. Then we spread almond butter on the rice cakes. Finally, we garnish and serve.

Here are the four ways we topped our rice cakes with almond butter spread:

  1. Banana and dark chocolate chips.

  2. Strawberries, yogurt, and chia seeds.

  3. Apple, flax seeds, and maple syrup.

  4. Mango, blueberries, and pumpkin seeds.

In our four steps below, we will show you how to prepare each of the toppings above. Let's get nibbling!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will these puffed rice cakes last?

There's nothing worse than stale rice cakes. Unfortunately puffed rice loses its crispiness very quickly once exposed to air, even quicker than biscuits or cereals out of their boxes.

Whether you are going for plain rice cakes or garnishing them with one of our vegan toppings above, we suggest you eat them within 2 hours of taking them out of their wrappings.

Luckily it takes only 2 minutes to prepare one of our rice cakes, so you don't have to worry about batch-cooking them. Just enjoy them fresh on the go.

Unless you plan on consuming a full bag of rice cakes at once, you must store them properly to preserve their crunchiness. We encourage you not to keep them in their original bag once opened, but to transfer them to a proper air-tight container.

Rice cakes packaging is often flimsy and can easily rip once opened. If this goes undetected, or you don't seal the bag properly, air can seep in overnight and spoil the product. If you transfer the rice snacks into zip-locked bags or food-grade boxes with an air-tight seal, you can be 100% sure they will still be crispy next time you crave them.

Are rice cakes suitable for everyone?

Organic rice cakes are probably the snack with the shortest list of ingredients in the world, comprising only rice and a little salt.

Are the rice cakes the holy grail of snacking, something that everyone can enjoy no matter their diets or food allergies? And are they as good as we they appear? Let's take a closer look.

This low-carb, low-fats snack seems ideal to those following a weight-loss diet. A typical- sized rice cake has only 27 calories, but almost none of them come from fats or sugars. But there is a caveat. Rice cakes have very few fibres, which makes us digest them quickly without feeling satiated. Also, the lack of healthy fats means rice cakes are not suited for the keto diet.

When trying to lose weight, we must curb our hunger to avoid imprudent snacking. Plain rice cakes don't do this effectively, but there is a solution: avoid eating too many rice cakes on their own, but instead top them with fibrous and nutritious ingredients like the ones we suggest above. Also, opt for rice cakes made with brown rice, which are more nutritious and fibrous.

Another shortcoming of low-fibre foods is their effect on blood sugar levels. Although rice cakes report very few sugars, rice is a high Glycemic Index food, which at first sight doesn't spell good news for people with diabetes. But the Glycemic Load of rice is not bad, hovering around the medium range. What this means is that people with diabetes can eat rice cakes occasionally and in moderation. Just like for those who want to lose weight, diabetics should top rice cakes with high-fibres ingredients to get a safer nutritional profile.

Finally, rice cakes are both vegan and gluten-free. Vegan food is also dairy-free and egg-free, making these crispy snacks accessible to the majority of people suffering from food allergies.

In conclusion, rice cakes have a plain nutritional profile that can fit almost all diets. To address some of their shortcomings and turn them into a nourishing snack, you should buy the brown-rice variation and serve them with high-fibre foods.

We did just that in our recipe above, where we topped rice cakes with wholesome ingredients like fruit, nuts, and seeds to give you the right balance of fibres, proteins, and vitamins.

How many rice cakes should you eat in a day?

Although rice cakes have been praised as a staple among weight loss snacks, we recommend you limit them to a serving of two or three rice cakes per day, due to their weak nutritional profile.

These crackers are indeed very low in fats, carbs, and calories. Still, the very way in which they are manufactured - high heat and high pressure - strips them of precious fibres, vitamins and minerals.

Therefore, plain rice cakes aren't much of nutritional value and eating too many of them is likely to raise blood sugars more quickly than a slice of wholemeal bread. This will lead to food cravings and ultimately to weight gain.

There are ways to turn rice cakes into a more balanced snack, like topping them with nutritious ingredients.

For example, you could pair them with fruits, nuts and seeds as we did in our recipe above. You can also accompany them with savoury toppings like hummus, cheese, and eggs.

These fibre-packed and protein-rich ingredients will slow down the digestion of the rice cakes, thus stabilising your blood sugar levels.

Moderation is key. Eating two or three of these crackers won't affect your waistline as they still make a better choice over other processed snacks like crisps and cookies. However, opt for wholegrain and low-salt varieties and pair them with healthy toppings to compensate for their plain nutritional profile.

Ingredients

Adjustments
Serves
Measuring System
Apple Rice Cake
Apple1/4
Maple Syrup1/2 tsp
Ground Flaxseeds1/4 tsp
Banana Rice Cake
Bananas1/2
Dark Chocolate Chips5 g
Mango Rice Cake
Mango30 g
Blueberries15 g
Pumpkin Seeds1/2 tsp
Strawberry Rice Cake
Soy Yogurt20 g
Strawberries30 g
Chia Seeds1/4 tsp
Others
Rice Cakes4
Almond Butter4 tbsp

Step 1

Let's start with the strawberry rice cake.

Spread 1 tbsp of almond butter over one rice thin and then drop the soy yogurt in the centre.

Then, top with sliced strawberries and sprinkle with chia seeds.

Rice cake with almond butter, yogurt, strawberries and chia seeds.

Step 2

Now let's move onto the apple flavour.

Rinse and thinly slice the apple keeping the skin on for extra fibres.

Spread 1 tbsp of nut butter over the cracker and top with the prepared apple.

Then, drizzle with maple syrup and garnish with ground flaxseeds.

Rice cake with apple, maple syrup, and flaxseeds.

Step 3

Now it's time for the mango cracker.

Cover the rice cake with 1 tbsp of almond spread and then lay peeled and sliced mangos over it.

Then, add the blueberries and a good sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Rice cake with mango, blueberries and pumpkin seeds.

Step 4

Finally, let's make the banana rice cake.

Spread the remaining 1 tbsp of almond butter and then arrange banana chips over the rice thin.

Finally, top with dark chocolate chips or super healthy cacao nibs.

Rice cake with almond butter, sliced banana and chocolate chips.

Tips

  • In the banana option, you can stir a teaspoon of cacao powder into the almond butter before spreading it over the rice cake for an extra chocolate flavour.

  • Dried fruit like cranberries or Goji berries make a great extra topping for these breakfast crackers.